Introduction

In a dynamic economy, people are always moving residence. Having a child, getting married, separated or divorced, obtaining a job – these have all been identified as triggers in the mobility process. Regardless of the driving forces, residential mobility is generally regarded as being good for the economy and the prosperity of individuals. The basic argument is that mobility generates a convergence in incomes and employment. Regions experiencing strong economic growth will exhibit wage growth, encouraging a movement of labour into the region, raising labour supply and so forcing down wages. Depressed regions experience a movement out of labour, reducing labour supply and driving up wages.

However, the degree of residential mobility in Britain is regarded as low especially compared to the US (Gregg et al, 2004). According to recent research, around one in 10 households in Britain relocates each year (Hughes and McCormick, 2000). The removal vans, however, do not move far since only one in every 100 moves is inter-regional. At the same time, however, quasi-mobility has increased via rises in commute distances and times (Benito and Oswald, 1999).

This chapter represents an initial exploration of residential mobility in Scotland relative to England. At the outset, one would expect differences arising from differences in unemployment, earnings, occupational and industrial profile, education and also housing tenure across the two countries. The questions we seek to address are the following:

• 1) How much residential mobility is there in Scotland relative to England?

• 2) What types of moves do individuals make?

• 3) What factors drive such mobility?

In essence, we try to ascertain whether the types of regularities that have been found for Britain as a whole also hold for Scotland.

A brief review of the literature

The classical approach to migration argues that households will move away from regions that offer low wages and higher unemployment to regions or areas that offer high wages and lower unemployment. Most theoretical models assume that migration is determined by expected utility flows. Potential migrants make a comparison of the stream of expected future benefits from moving with the immediate costs. A household will move if the expected gains from moving net of transaction costs are greater than the expected utility from staying put.