Development of Regional Labor Markets in Ukraine as a Tool to Regulate Internal Migration and Reduce Social Vulnerability

Abstract

Purpose: The article explores links between the attractiveness of regional labor markets and internal migration as a change in the usual place of residence in Ukraine.

Methodology: Based on the migration theory of “push-pull” a study of the attractiveness of regional labor markets as determinants of the intensification of internal migration in 24 regions of Ukraine (2010–2020) was conducted with the use of integrated assessment and balance econometric modeling.

Findings: The study found that the internal migration activity in Ukraine is of urbanistic nature because the development of rural-urban area migration vectors dominates in the country. The most attractive regions in the focus of internal emigration and immigration processes are defined based on the developed rankings of the regions’ attractiveness by the system of labor market and employment development indicators.

Research limitations: This article studies a specific country and its regions, along with the local labor market. One should be careful when generalizing the results to other regional labor markets.

Originality/value: The level of regional labor markets’ attractiveness correlated with internal migration activity. The attractive regional labor market, high IT market development level, and increasing innovative-technological capacity proved the main attraction factors of these regions.