Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T01:01:45.727Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Can Health Care Services Attract Retirees And Contribute to the Economic Sustainability of Rural Places?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

James F. Oehmke
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan
Satoshi Tsukamoto
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan
Lori A. Post
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan
Get access

Abstract

The search for engines to power rural economic growth has gone beyond the traditional boundaries of the food and fiber sector to industries such as tourism and to schemes such as attracting metropolitan workers to commuter communities with rural amenities. A group that has been somewhat overlooked is retirees, who may wish to trade in urban or suburban lifestyles for a more peaceful rural retirement. An industry that has been neglected is the health care industry, which is the most rapidly growing industry nationally and of particular interest to retirees and aging populations. This paper examines the importance of rural health care services in attracting migrants age 65+ to rural counties in Michigan. Results indicate that the number of health care workers has a positive effect on net in-migration, and that this effect is large and statistically significant for the 70+ age group. Implications for rural development strategies are discussed.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barkley, D. L., and Wilson, P. N. 1992. “Is Alternative Agriculture a Viable Rural Development Strategy?Growth and Change 23(2): 239253.Google Scholar
Bean, F. D., Myers, G. C., Angel, J. L., and Galle, O. R. 1994. “Geographic Concentration, Migration, and Population Redistribution Among the Elderly.” In Martin, L. G. and Preston, S. H., eds., Demography of Aging. Washington, D. C.: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Berk, M. L., Schur, C. L., Dunbar, J. L., Bozzette, S., and Shapiro, M. 2003. “Migration Among Persons Living with HIV.Social Science and Medicine 57(6): 1091.Google ScholarPubMed
Bukenya, J. O., Gebremedhin, T. G., and Schaeffer, P. V. 2003. “Analysis of Quality of Life and Rural Development: Evidence from West Virginia Data.Growth and Change 34(2): 202218.Google Scholar
Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS). 2006. “The Impact of the Aging Population on the Health Workforce in the United States.University of Albany, Rensselaer, NY. Available at www.albany.edu/news/pdf_files/impact_of_aging_full.pdf.Google Scholar
Che, D. 2003. “The New Economy and the Forest: Rural Development in the Post-Industrial Spaces of the Rural Alleghenies.Social Science Quarterly 84(4): 963978.Google Scholar
Clark, R. L., and Wolf, D.A. 1992. “Proximity of Children and Elder Migration.” In Rogers, A., ed., Elder Migration and Population Redistribution. London: Belhaven Press.Google Scholar
Conway, K. S., and Houtenville, A.J. 1998. “Do the Elderly ‘Vote with Their Feet’Public Choice 97(4): 663685.Google Scholar
Conway, K. S., and Houtenville, A.J. 2001. “Elderly Migration and State Fiscal Policy: Evidence from the 1990 Census Migration Flows.National Tax Journal 54(1): 103123.Google Scholar
Conway, K. S., and Houtenville, A.J. 2003. Out with the Old, In with the Old: A Closer Look at Younger Versus Older Elder Migration.” Social Science Quarterly 84(2): 309328.Google Scholar
Domazlicky, B. 2002. “Population Growth in Rural Missouri Counties in the 1990s: Yet Another Turnaround.Journal of Economics 28(2): 3145.Google Scholar
Duncombe, W., Robbins, M., and Wolf, D. 2003. “Place Characteristics and Residential Location Choice Among the Retirement-Age Population.Journals of Gerontology (Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences) 58(4): S244S252.Google Scholar
Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., Ogden, C. L., and Johnson, C. L. 2002. “Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among U. S. Adults, 1999-2000.Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 288(14): 17231727.Google Scholar
Goetz, S., and Rupasingha, A. 2004. “County Amenities and Net Migration.Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 33(2): 245254.Google Scholar
Gold, M. V. 1999. “Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms.” Special Reference Briefs Series No. SEB 99-02 (September). Available at www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AF[-]SIC_pubs/srb9902.htm.Google Scholar
Haas, W. H. 1990. “Retirement Migration: Boon or Burden?Journal of Applied Gerontology 9(4): 387392.Google Scholar
Haas, W. H. III, and Serow, W.J. 1993. “Amenity Retirement Migration Process: A Model and Preliminary Evidence.The Gerontologist 33(2): 212220.Google Scholar
Hayes, J.C., and Longino, C. F. Jr. 2002. “Florida Migration in the AHEADS Study, 1993-1995.Research on Aging 24(4): 473483.Google Scholar
Kim, K.-K., Marcouiller, D. W., and Deller, S. C. 2005. “Natural Amenities and Rural Development: Understanding Spatial and Distributional Attributes.Growth and Change 36(2): 273297.Google Scholar
Klebba, C. 2005. “Many Baby Boomers Have New Homes, Money on Their Minds.” Available at http://media.corporateir.net/media_files/irol/14/147717/DelWebb/Results[-]2005BabyBoomerSurvey.pdf.Google Scholar
Lee, A.S. 1966. “A Theory of Migration.Demography 3(1): 4757.Google Scholar
Lee, A.S. 1980. “Aged Migration: Impact on Service Delivery.Research on Aging 2(2): 243254.Google Scholar
Litwak, E., and Longino, C. F. Jr. 1987. “Migration Patterns Among the Elderly: A Developmental Perspective.The Gerontologist 27(3): 266.Google Scholar
Longino, C. F. Jr., Jackson, D.J., Zimmerman, R. S., and Bradsher, J. E. 1991. “The Second Move: Health and Geographic Mobility.Journal of Gerontology 46(4): S218S224.Google Scholar
Nzaku, K., and Bukenya, J. O. 2005. “Examining the Relationship between Quality of Life Amenities and Economic Development in the Southeast USA.Review of Urban and Regional Development Studies 17(2): 89103.Google Scholar
Post, L. A. 2004. “The Impact of the Demographic Transition on Rural Areas: 1970-2025.” Presented at the Southern Demographic Association annual meetings, October 14, Hilton Head, SC.Google Scholar
Renkow, M. 2003. “Employment Growth, Worker Mobility, and Rural Economic Development.American Journal of Agricultural Economics 85(2): 504514.Google Scholar
Robinson, K. L, Lyson, T. A., and Christy, R. D. 2002. “Civic Community Approaches to Rural Development in the South: Economic Growth with Prosperity.Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 34(2): 327338.Google Scholar
Rogerson, P.A., Weng, R. H., and Lin, G. 1993. “The Spatial Separation of Parents and Their Adult Children.Annals of the Association of American Geographers 83(4): 656671.Google Scholar
Serow, W. J. 2001. “Retirement Migration Counties in the Southeastern United States: Geographic, Demographic and Economic Correlates.The Gerontologist 41(2): 220227.Google Scholar
Serow, W. J. 2003. “Economic Consequences of Retiree Concentrations: A Review of the North American Studies.The Gerontologist 43(6): 897903.Google Scholar
Shields, M., Deller, S. C., and Stallmann, J.I. 2001. “Comparing the Impacts of Retiree versus Working-Age Families on a Small Rural Region: An Application of the Wisconsin Economic Impact Modeling System.Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 30(1): 2031.Google Scholar
Silverstein, M., and Angelelli, J. J. 1998. “Older Parents’ Expectations of Moving Closer to Their Children.Journals of Gerontology (Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences) 53(3): S153S163.Google Scholar
Sjaastad, L.A. 1962. “The Costs and Returns of Human Migration.The Journal of Political Economy 70(5): 8093.Google Scholar
Speare, A. Jr., and Meyer, J. W. 1988. “Types of Elderly Residential Mobility and Their Determinants.Journal of Gerontology 43(3): S74S81.Google Scholar
Stallmann, J. L., Decker, S. C., and Shields, M. 1999. “The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Aging.The Gerontologist 39(5): 599610.Google Scholar
Stoller, E. P., and Longino, C. F. Jr. 2001. “‘Going Home’ or ‘Leaving Home’? The Impact of Person and Place Ties on Anticipated Counterstream Migration.The Gerontologist 41(1): 96102.Google Scholar
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (U. S. EPA). 2007. “Sustainability.U. S. EPA, Washington, D. C. Available at www.epa.gov/sustainability/.Google Scholar
Walters, W. H. 2002. “Place Characteristics and Later-Life Migration.Research on Aging 24(2): 243277.Google Scholar
Woods & Poole Economics. 2007. “County Forecast to 2030.” Available at www.woodsandpoole.com/.Google Scholar