Wage distributions and spatial preferences in competitive job search and migration

"Aggregate interstate migration data [for the United States] indicate that the majority of observed flows are from higher to lower wage states, quite contrary to the predictions of human capital theory. It is argued that a search theoretic framework may be used to complement and strengthen human capital theory. Such a framework may then include consideration of the flows of job information and aspects of job competition. A model is proposed for application to longitudinal micro-level data which overcomes a variety of theoretical and inferential problems and which remains within the bounds of empirical application." (summary in FRE, GER)