Return and onward migration of highly educated: Evidence from residence spells of Finnish graduates Mika Haapanen † & Hannu Tervo * School of Business and Economics, University of Jyväskylä 15th August 2009 Abstract. In this paper we examine inter-regional migration behaviour of young adults graduating from the Finnish universities in 1991–2003 from the point of view of residence duration. We distinguish those who study in their home region from the others. For the latter graduates, we analyse both onward and return migration. Discrete- time models of residence duration are specified that allow us to study how the propensities to move change over the course of the residence spell. Our findings indicate that two-year before and during the graduation year the hazard rates of migration are increasing, and decreasing thereafter. This result is found not only for those who study at their home region but as well for those who are studying away and are contemplating return and onward migration. Keywords: return migration, onward migration, higher education, residence duration, discrete-time survival analysis JEL Classification: J10, J61, I20, R23 * Contact information: School of Business and Economics, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Emails: mika.haapanen@econ.jyu.fi & hannu.tervo@econ.jyu.fi . This study forms part of a project supported by the Academy of Finland (project 127049). Haapanen also gratefully acknowledges financial support from Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation (project 6039) † Corresponding author.