Empirical Analysis of Commuter Migration in the Moscow Region. Revisiting Established Paradigms

Daily commuter labor migration significantly shapes Moscow’s labor market. However, its economic and fiscal implications for intergovernmental fiscal relations remain underexplored. Using microdata from the Russian Labor Force Survey (RLFS) for 2024, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of commuter migrants’ socioeconomic profiles compared to Moscow’s native population. Three hypotheses are empirically confirmed: 1) migrants are younger and predominantly male; 2) they experience a “professional paradox” with 2–4 times higher rates of working outside their specialty; 3) their employment concentrates in sectors with high informal labor relations. The research reveals fundamental tax asymmetry: migrants pay personal income tax to Moscow’s budget, while their human capital reproduction costs are borne by their home regions. This creates systemic inefficiency and necessitates adjustments to intergovernmental transfer mechanisms. The findings justify targeted compensation mechanisms to mitigate these disparities.