Pay to Move

Abstract

In November of 2020, the Life Works Here Initiative was launched in Northwest Arkansas targeting the relocation of highly educated remote workers - especially in the sectors of tech and STEAM, science, technology, engineering, the arts and math - to find young talent to pipeline for the future and fill demand gaps in high-tech, high-wage industries and jobs. This paper will investigate characteristics that may have impacted an individual's descision to move into Arkansas following the implementation of the Life Works Here initiative using panel data on migration decision. I found that the characteristic of being a female on average decreases the probability of migrating to Arkansas by -.0001739 percentage points, relative to males, ceteris paribus. I also found that older aged individuals initially increase in the probability of moving into Arkansas until 41.732 years of age, where they will then decrease the probability of relocating to Arkansas.