Policymakers and media outlets often point to Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living when discussing why people flee the state for greener economic pastures. But a study by economists at the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization argues there’s another, equally important factor: a lack of high-paying jobs. It’s the combination of high prices and low wages — not just high costs alone — that makes Hawaiʻi a place where even middle-income people struggle to get by, the study reports, backed