This paper studies the role of professional networks in facilitating migration location decisions within the US. Using administrative Census data, I find new empirical evidence of the effects of coworker networks on the location choice of migrants, consistent with information provision about opportunities in other local labor markets. Workers are significantly more likely to move to the destinations of their coworkers than the destinations of non-coworkers from the same industry and location. The results are robust to accounting for alternative explanations such as moves within the same firm or establishment closures. Additionally, coworkers who have worked together longer have a greater likelihood of migrating to the same locations. Moves to the same destination firms account for only a small portion of the network effect, suggesting that direct job referrals play only a small role in facilitating such migration. The estimated network effects are stronger among workers who move further distances, are older, and have higher earnings.
Labor Specialization and Search Frictions: Evidence from Online Vacancy Data
Immigration and the Demand for Skills (with Stephen Tino)
Employer Search in Distant Labor Markets
Residential and Employment Location Changes in the Post-Pandemic US