Entry into working life: internal migration and the job match quality of higher-educated graduates

We estimate the impact of internal migration on job-match quality for recent Dutch university and college graduates. We find positive yet modest wage returns. After controlling for the self-selection of migrants with an IV approach, this effect is no longer significant for university graduates and all graduates from peripheral areas. We also find that, for our alternative job-match measures, where there is evidence of migrant self-selection, controlling for self-selection strongly reduces the effect of internal migration on job-match quality. In some cases, the returns on internal migration are found to be negative, which may signal forced migration.