Spatial-aspects of labour mobility in the 1980s

The recent recovery of the British economy has been associated with greater flexibility in labour markets, with a breakdown in wage rigidities, curbs on trade union power and a reduction in employee protection. However, it is often claimed that further manpower flexibility is hampered by the geographical immobility of labour. This paper considers this claim in reviewing the spatial aspects of labour mobility in the 1980s. After reviewing the theoretical analyses of labour migration, it presents empirical evidence on the extent of migration in the 1980s. Attention is then forwarded on housing as one of the main barriers to labour mobility