Education and regional mobility in Europe

• This paper estimates the impact of education on regional mobility in Europe using compulsory schooling reforms.
• Using data on individuals from eight European countries, I find that people who are induced by a school reform to acquire one more year of education are much more likely to relocate to another region in their country between the age of 15 and 50.
• I also show that education increases the probability of moving to a city for people from rural areas.

This paper estimates the impact of education on regional mobility in Europe using compulsory schooling reforms. Using data on individuals from eight European countries, I find that people who are induced by a school reform to acquire one more year of education are much more likely to relocate to another region in their country between the age of 15 and 50. I also show that education increases the probability of moving to a city for people from rural areas.