Regional Concentration of Highly Educated Couples

Abstract

There is empirical evidence (see e.g. Costa & Kahn 2000) that the educational background of both spouses has an effect on regional concentration. Finnish people have been migrating to urban regions. Especially higher education graduates prefer to live in cities. Because of this process human capital is concentrated in urban regions. Regional concentration of human capital can also be looked from a family perspective. A higher education graduate often has a spouse who has also graduated from university. In this situation the family moves to a region where they can find satisfying jobs. This study examines the residential choice of couples in which both spouses have higher education degree. The aim of this study is to find out where these couples live. In addition, families with different educational backgrounds are compared. The comparison might tell about the reasons of a family's residential choice. Micro level data is used in empirical analysis