Louis Knuepling (Utrecht University), Rolf Sternberg and Anne Otto answer this question in an article recently published in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. In particular, they examine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the digitalisation it has promoted.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a real economic crisis and increased inter-regional economic disparities. However, the catalyst effect that the pandemic has had on digitalization may change the traditional pattern of internal migration, in favour of rural areas. Using time-sensitive register data the authors explain changes in net migration rates of German districts from an economic geography perspective. They show that, since the beginning of the pandemic, rural regions benefited more from migration. In particular, younger and highly skilled individuals increasingly move to rural areas. This confirms that rural regions can benefit from increasing remote work, but these effects differ across region types and individual skill levels.
Knuepling, L.; Sternberg, R; Otto, A. (2025): Rural areas as winners of COVID-19, digitalization and remote working? Empirical evidence from recent internal migration in Germany. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 18(1), 227–248. DOI: 10.1093/cjres/rsae033
