Job changes and interregional migration of graduates

Using panel data from a German graduate survey, we analyse determinants of graduates’ decisions to out-migrate from a region and how the importance of these determinants varies over job changes. Estimating Heckman and fixed-effects Heckman selection models, we find that the propensity to out-migrate significantly varies with graduates’ migration experience as well as individual, study-related and regional characteristics. While previous migration remains a strong determinant of migration over job changes, the importance of other covariates decreases. The origin-region perspective of our study provides insights into the public provision of higher education as its returns depend on graduates’ interregional migration.