Ideally, the unemployed move where the jobs are. U.S. workers are among the most geographically mobile in the world. Canada is in the tier below. Less moving is a drag on economic productivity. Provincial borders are barriers to migration: Mr. Amirault and his co-writers show that both distance and language are important factors in determining population flows, reinforcing previous research. But their work also suggests that these factors don’t fully explain Canadians’ rootedness. In their simulations, they controlled for well-known variables, including distance and language. Their ... Read More
