Nineteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

In this paper we consider the psychic costs of graduates’ decision to migrate from their home locale, defined here as their place of residence prior to their attending university. We theorise the salary required to motivate migration indicates the monetary value of the psychic costs of migration. Using HESA data, and controlling for graduates’ backgrounds, education and employment, we estimate 1) the determinants of the decision to migrate, 2) the psychic cost of migration and 3) for those who choose to migrate, the relationship between distance migrated and net psychic costs of migration. This is, to our knowledge, the first time the psychic cost of migration has been estimated. To the extent that psychic costs of migration represent attachment to the existing community, we find graduates’ links to their community are valued at approximately 5% of a typical starting graduate salary. The value of community is significantly greater for women, mature graduates and graduates from an Asian ethnic background.