I am interested in understanding who, amongst those indivduals that migrate every year from one state to another, does so while working for the same company, firm or job – and who migrates to a new job. So, I need to know about ‘job tranfers’ as opposed to migration movements presumably to be attributed to new jobs. At the momement, I am using MIGPLAC1, in ACS. This variable gives the total number of individuals moving year to year, from one state to another. Is there a variable in ACS that captures this feature, even indirectly? I investigated all the ‘occupation’ variables and they are not useful as -clearly-- one could move to an entirely new job, while remaining in the same occupation.
Unfortunately, the ACS does not have a question that directly identifies the reason a person moved. However, the IPUMS-CPS variable WHYMOVE includes the categories:
04New job or job transfer
05To look for work or lost job
06For easier commute
07Retired
08Other job-related reason
As well as non-job-related reasons for moving. Combining this variable with the IPUMS-CPS MIGRATE1 should get you most of what you need. IPUMS-CPS has smaller samples, which limits geographic specificity, so you will not be able to identify counties of migration, but interstate migration is identified with MIGSTA1.