Why Are Older Workers Moving Less While Working Longer?

Since at least the 1990's, older workers' labor force participation (LFP) and migration responses have been trending in opposite directions, counter to conventional wisdom in labor economics. One explanation could be that diverging housing prices across regions suppresses migration, while also prompting more LFP among those homeowners whose housing price appreciation has been perceived as disappointing. This paper probes the relationships between negative labor market shocks, housing wealth changes, and migration by considering how rising import competition had differential impacts across US housing and labor markets after 2001 to compare shocked and unshocked homeowners and renters (in an augmented differences-in-differences-in-differences regression strategy)