In labour economics, we are often interested in migration of workers from one geographical region to another. Suppose we divide a hypothetical country Econland into three regions (R): R1,R2,R3. We can find the proportion of the workers of those three regions who put or migrate to another region. For instance, p12 = proportion of the workers in region 2 that move to region while p33 is the proportion of workers in region 3 who do not migrate to any of the two other regions. We can denote these transition proportions by pij , i, j = 1, 2, 3 and can state these proportions of workers that stay put or migrate to another region in terms of the transition matrix

P= p11 p12 p13

[ p21 p22 p23].

p31 p32 p33

Suppose the number of workers in these regions in millions at a point in time t is denoted by (xti)

and presented in the vector xt = xt1

[ xt2 ]

xt3 , where at some initial time t = 0, we have x0 = x01

[ x02 ]

x03

The regional migration over n periods in time can be determined using the following equation:

xt = Pxt1, t = 1,2,...n.

1. (1 Mark) Using equation (1) only, write the expressions for x1 and x2 and simplify them to express x2 in terms of x0 and P .

2. (2 Mark) Using transition matrix P and initial endowment of workers x0, find x1.

3. (2 Mark) Find the number of workers in each region after migration in period 1 if

0.75 0.25 0.01 8

P = [ 0.1 0.65 0.54 ], x0 = [ 12 ], x0 has values in millions.

0.15 0.1 0.45 20

4. (2 Marks) Find the number of workers in each region after migration in period 2.

5. (1 Mark) What would be the number of workers in each region after an influx of international migrants to each region in Econland by 5, 00, 000 after period 1.