Several studies have shown that the unemployed in distressed regions of the U.S. have been reluctant to move to areas of greater employment opportunities. By establishing a negative correlation between weeks of job search and the probability of migration, this study is able to provide a partial explanation for the lack of a positive and statistically significant relationship between out-migration rates and the unemployment rate in the local labor market. It is our contention here that those regions that have experienced long periods of high unemployment possess a long-term unemployed population that is less likely to undertake a geographic move.
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Goss et al. (1984) studied this question.