Prior geographic mobility and job search length.

The effect of previous geographic mobility on the length of an unemployed person's job search in the United States is examined. "This study proposed that knowledge of regional wage differentials and other market conditions give a worker with prior geographic mobility experience a better stock of information than one who has worked all of his or her work life in the same geographical location. It is proposed that this superior stock of information has a significant impact on the amount of time it takes an unemployed worker to locate and accept a job." Data are from the 1981 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. excerpt