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Rural-urban labor migration: The case of Korea

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Abstract

This paper examines the significance of selected economic determinants of rural-urban migration within the rural and urban labor markets of the postwar Korean economy. The analysis makes explicit provision for possible simultaneity among variables by specification and estimation of a simultaneous equations system which describes the rural and urban labor market and migration behavior. Results obtained support the economic opportunity hypothesis of migration. Reduced forms derived from this system provide useful means for estimating the potential migration response associated with alternative economic policies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saginaw Valley State College, USA

    Hong Youl Park (Associate Professor of Economics)

  2. Utah State University, USA

    Herbert H. Fullerton (Professor of Economics)

Authors
  1. Hong Youl Park
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  2. Herbert H. Fullerton
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Additional information

The helpful suggestions received from Professors B. Delworth Gardner, Kenneth Lyon, Yun Kim, and Warren Mazek are gratefully acknowledged.

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Park, H.Y., Fullerton, H.H. Rural-urban labor migration: The case of Korea. Ann Reg Sci 14, 72–90 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01286136

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