The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Martin Nordin . Photo

Martin Nordin

Policy officer

Martin Nordin . Photo

Staying or leaving? The effects of university availability on educational choices and rural depopulation

Author

  • Ida Lovén
  • Cecilia Hammarlund
  • Martin Nordin

Summary, in English

Universities are often viewed as engines of local economic growth that could mitigate rural depopulation. However, university studies might make individuals more prone to move. We explore this issue in a quasi-experiment arising due to a sudden reduction in the number of student places at a regional university in northern Sweden in 1998. We find that the reduction in student places affected both educational choices and long-term migration. Women studied at a university further from home and became more mobile, while men neither studied nor moved. Also, to study at a distant university had a larger impact on migration than studies nearby. This heterogeneity contributes to the understanding of how education affects migration from rural areas.

Department/s

  • AgriFood Economics Centre, SLU

Publishing year

2020-10

Language

English

Pages

1339-1365

Publication/Series

Papers in Regional Science

Volume

99

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Topic

  • Human Geography

Keywords

  • education
  • internal migration
  • quasi-experiment
  • rural population
  • Sweden

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1056-8190