Trends in Internal Migration in Romania and Spain: How Different Are They?

Abstract

Internal migration is important from two perspectives: first, which are its motivations and, secondly, which are its
consequences on regional economic growth. Theoretically, between internal migration and economic growth there is a bidirectional
relationship. The purpose of this paper is to make a comparative study Romania-Spain in order to establish the main differences
between them and the reasons beyond differences. The choice for these two countries has its roots in the different timing of EU
accession and in their socio-economic heterogeneity. The research method is a quantitative comparative analysis using national and
county/provincial data which takes account of inter and intra-regional streams, the evolution of migration (both absolute and relative), the
permanent or temporary existence of regional poles of attraction, the migration structure by sex and by age. Moreover, I will try to
elucidate whether regional gaps in income and unemployment influence somewhat the decision to migrate using a dynamic econometric
appraisal. The main results point out at a domination of intra-flows over inter-flows, an oscillatory evolution of migration, the existence of
reduced poles of attraction and a higher willingness of younger people to migrate in both Romania and Spain. Instead, the two countries
are different as regards the much higher propensity to migrate of Spanish residents. Also, women migrate more than men in Romania
while the contrary happens in Spain; also, the difference between sexes is greater in Romania. The System GMM estimations reveal that
in-migration rate exhibits state dependence and only GDP gaps motivate mobility in both countries.