The drivers of intra- and interregional labor mobility over the industry life cycle of the high-tech sector

Abstract

In this article, we analyze how industry- and region-specific characteristics influence individual-level decisions on mobility within and between regions during the life cycle of the industry. Using uniquely detailed panel-type data from the Finnish high technology sector, our analysis demonstrates that the influence of different regional features varies for different types of job changes and labor mobility and also according to the industry life cycle. We find that the classic agglomeration-type arguments regarding labor search and matching only really operate in the early growth stages of an industry life cycle. These patterns change throughout the various stages of the industry life cycle, although in quite different ways according to different factors, and understanding how these patterns change helps to provide a richer understanding of the labor market roles of agglomeration and clustering.