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Regional preferences for the living environment and mobility of researchers and general workers: the case of Korea

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Abstract

Since 2005, the Korean government has relocated national research institutes from the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) to other parts of the nation. The main purpose of this relocation is to ameliorate disparities in population and economic power across regions. However, it turns out that only 27% of researchers in the SMA have actually relocated. This implies that researcher’s preference for a living environment should be reflected in the planning process. Hence, this paper attempts to specify the migration behaviors of researchers by comparing their preferences with those of general workers. Here, regional living environment is represented by a function of two attributes: regional labor market conditions and living environments. The paper shows that regional living environments have a more decisive impact on the migration of researchers, relative to general workers. Also, researchers are found to be slightly more sensitive to regional living environments especially crime than regional labor market conditions. Finally, the paper suggests a policy direction for balanced development among regions in Korea based on the results obtained.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urban Planning, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimniro, Seoul, Korea

    Hyun-kyung Lee & Hong-bae Kim

Authors
  1. Hyun-kyung Lee
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  2. Hong-bae Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hong-bae Kim.

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Appendices

Appendix 1. The classification of researcher

No.

Occupations

No.

Occupations

1

Research manager

16

Electrical engineer

2

University professor

17

Electronical engineer

3

University part-time lecturer

18

Computer engineer

4

Education researcher

19

Telecommunication engineer

5

Natural scientist

20

Food engineer

6

Biology scientist

21

Environmental engineer

7

Humanities scientist

22

Energy engineer

8

Social scientist

23

Fire engineer

9

Agriculturist

24

Investment analyst

10

Architect and civil engineer

25

Computer system designer

11

Mechanical engineer

26

Network system developer

12

Metal engineer

27

System software developer

13

Material engineer

28

Application software developer

14

Chemical engineer

29

Web developer

15

Textile engineer

30

Database developer

Appendix 2. Descriptive statistics for observations

Variables

Researchers

General workers

Min.

Max.

Average

Standard deviation

Min.

Max.

Average

Standard deviation

MIGR

0

1

0.52

0.50

0

1

0.52

0.50

Age

24

65

26.60

2.44

24

65

27.60

4.68

Gender

0

1

0.79

0.41

0

1

0.50

0.50

Household

0

1

0.61

0.48

0

1

0.72

0.44

Birth origin

0

1

0.38

0.48

0

1

0.41

0.49

n

1782

   

12,557

   

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Lee, Hk., Kim, Hb. Regional preferences for the living environment and mobility of researchers and general workers: the case of Korea. Ann Reg Sci 62, 169–186 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-018-0892-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-018-0892-3

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