Regional human capital disequilibria: the case of youth migration in Latvia

Riga stands out within Latvia as a significant pool of economic and education-related opportunities. Students and young people are traditionally more mobile and move towards destinations where self-advancement is accessible. Thus, this study aims to describe the human capital disequilibria in the regions of Latvia by analysing youth in the age group from 15 to 34 years and making a comparison between the years 2011 and 2018. The backbone of the study is an analysis of changes in regional unemployment rates and changes in the number of young people in certain regions outside the capital, as well as the general trend for the proportion of young people to decrease in some regions since 2011. The main research questions addressed are: how can the core-periphery model be applied to the regions of Latvia, and to what extent do economic opportunities explain regional inequality? The results indicate that Riga is a core, geographically, and the functionally related regions of Pieriga and Zemgale are semi-peripheral regions. However, the regions of Vidzeme, Latgale and Kurzeme are “places of lower rank” or peripheral regions, which are losing young people in the competition both with the core areas within the country and with other attractive destinations abroad.