All in the family: Self‐selection and migration by couples

This paper examines determinants of couple migration in a model that accounts for self‐selection of migrant couples. The study is based on a sample of married couples from the Swedish population. The model incorporates controls for earnings of both spouses preceding the move, and explicitly addresses unmeasured heterogeneity in the family decision to migrate. Two statistical formulations are presented. In the first version, migration is measured as a dichotomous move/stay decision. A second formulation replaces the dichotomous indicator with the distance moved by migrants. Results suggest that family migration is selective of relatively low earning wives with unmeasured potential for strong earnings.     

Temporary migration and regional development in China

"A new approach to migration in developing countries is used in this paper, which integrates into the migration process the experiences of moving to cities, working in urban areas, and returning to the countryside. As a result, rural labor migration is directly linked to rural development through remittances, as well as through physical and human capital brought back by return migrants. Migration information is mainly drawn from China's 1995 1% National Population Survey.... It has been found that patterns of temporary migration are mainly shaped by the magnetic force of the growth-pole region. Job opportunities created there in labor-intensive industries have attracted large numbers of migrants, first from the surrounding rural areas and then from the peripheral regions, enhancing migration propensity in both areas."     

Return Migration When Savings Differ

ABSTRACT: Continuing immigration of low wage and low skill workers to more developed countries from less developed regions of the world has become an issue of policy debate. Host countries which do not view themselves as countries of immigration are eager to develop incentives which forestall migrants from becoming permanent residents. This paper reports that return migrants with savings have a higher probability of settling in birthplace regions, which tend to be lagging and less developed regions. Policies which encourage savings among migrants are likely to encourage return migration which is spread across regions of outmigration rather than concentrated in major urban areas. Without savings, the rate of return to less developed regions would be extremely low, demonstrating the importance of savings to a pattern of balanced return migration.     

Socioeconomic characteristics of interregional migrants in England and Wales, 1939-71

"Data from the Longitudinal Study (LS) of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys are used to examine patterns of regional migration in England and Wales between 1939 and 1971. The source of information on region in 1939 is from a national population register established shortly after the start of the Second World War." The results suggest that "overall, 18% of persons in the analysis moved between regions from 1939 to 1971. Migrants tended to be socioeconomically advantaged compared with nonmigrants. Moreover, those moving to regions where the nonmigrants were the most advantaged, were themselves the most advantaged of the migrants. This paper illustrates a new source of data on long-term migration that deserves further exploration."     

Recent trends in migration between core and peripheral regions in developed and advanced developing countries

"The main finding of this article is that net internal migration to the core regions in the countries of the developed world, which subsided in the 1970s, increased in the 1980s, although not to the level of the 1960s. In some countries of northwest Europe there is a balance now in net flows between core and periphery. In the countries of the periphery of Europe and Japan net internal migration to the core regions increased slightly in the 1980s. Net migration flows to the periphery have completely reversed in Canada, and net flows out of the core regions of the United States have been significantly reduced. In eastern Europe, however, there is still moderate net migration to the core regions without any interruption as seen in western Europe, North America, and Japan. In South Korea and Taiwan rates of net migration to the core regions have been reduced from their high levels of the 1970s, but they are still quite high and show no clear sign of a break from the past."     

Income,self-selection,and return and onward interprovincial migration in Canada

"Estimated returns to migration based on comparison of individual migrants may be biased owing to self-selection in the migration process. Using data derived from the 1986 Canadian census, I will study the effects of expected wage differentials in determining the return or onward migration decision of nonnative adults aged 20 to 64 years. Evidence was found that return migrations were in the 'right' direction, as they are observed to respond to provincial economic variables (that is, average employment growth and income levels) in a rational manner. After accounting for self-selectivity, I found that...return migrants...are negatively selected, and experience lower income levels, following the return migration, than onward migrants would have, had they chosen the return migration option. This drop in expected wages decreases the propensity associated with making a return migration. Despite this drop in income, the large proportion selecting the return migration option suggests the importance of the province of birth in the mental map of nonnative migrants."     

Nineteenth century English and Welsh geographic labor mobility: Some further evidence

In a recent issue of this journal, Greenwood and Thomas (G-T) estimated determinants of intercounty migration in England and Wales for 1861, using regression analysis. Coincidently, we performed a similar analysis using 1851 data. As with G-T, we conclude that migrants were sensitive to economic considerations in making their locational choice. Both sets of results are remarkably similar with respect to the pronounced sensitivity of migrants to movement costs, as measured by distance. Unlike G-T, however, we generally observe significantly positive relationships between migration and wage levels in the destination county. Also, our results suggest that migrants were less responsive to job opportunity considerations than those of G-T. Furthermore, we conclude that migrants,ceteris paribus, tended to move to sunnier counties and to be somewhat responsive to public assistance payment levels in making their locational choice. Finally, our results suggest that migrants improved their economic status and contributed to British economic growth by their behavioral patterns.All computations were performed by Ohio University Computer Services.     

Do earnings by college major affect graduate migration?

College graduates are considerably more mobile than non-graduates, and previous literature suggests that the difference is at least partially attributable to college graduates being more responsive to employment opportunities in other areas. However, there exist considerable differences in migration rates by college major that have gone largely unexplained. This paper uses microdata from the American Community Survey to examine how the migration decisions of young college graduates are affected by earnings in their college major. Results indicate that higher major-specific earnings in an individual’s state of birth reduce out-migration suggesting that college graduates are attracted toward areas that especially reward the specific type of human capital that they possess.     

Mental map variability: A migration modeling problem

Mental map variability is important when viewed in a migration prediction context. Models that link aggregate mental maps of residential desirability to migration have limited predictive value because mental maps vary among socioeconomic groups and migrants often have very different socioeconomic characteristics than the general population within a source region. Residential desirability also varies with both the distance to and the intensity of awareness for alternative destinations. Utility can be increased by disaggregating the mental maps of potential migrants on the basis of accessibility to potential destinations, socioeconomic status, and awareness levels for alternative locations.The author wishes to acknowledge the thoughtful comments of Professor Richard Jones on an early draft of this paper. The assistance of Ms. Gail Leithauser who tabulated much of the data also proved most helpful.     

Interregional migration models with source and interaction information

"Information flows in models of migration are emphasized. In particular, migrants are assumed to react to two types of information about job vacancies. 'Interaction information' may be defined as interpersonal communication between recent migrants and their former neighbors or friends, and 'source information' represents a direct flow of information from employers or agencies to individuals. Models are developed that investigate the effects of various communication rates and information retention levels on vacancy rates and labor-force population trajectories. It is found that attempts by planners to reduce regional inequities in vacancy rates through controlled advertising may be successful, but at the possible cost of increasing temporal fluctuations of regional vacancy rates."     

A simultaneous probit model of earnings, migration, job change with wage heterogeneity

In this study, earnings are decomposed in order to measure the effects due to individual characteristics and to unobserved heterogeneity. These effects are shown to work in opposite directions, complicating the effect of earnings on migration. The use of aggregate earnings masks the two separate effects. Those earning more because of productive characteristics are less likely to move. However, higher earnings due to other reasons that are more qualitative act as an impetus for migration. Job change is often part of the decision to migrate. In our analysis we recognize the endogeneity of job change in the migration equation and estimate it separately in the model. Job change is found to have a significantly positive influence on migration. Moreover, the separate estimation of job change brings out the important role of both explained and unexplained earnings on the decision to switch jobs, both factors decreasing the perceived necessity of changing jobs. Received: February 1997/Accepted: June 1998     

Migration and perceptions of housing availability in Sweden

This paper investigates the relationship between different forms of migration, perceptions of housing availability and production of new housing stock in Sweden. This is done using survey data on housing availability on the municipal level, dating from 2005 to 2015. Primary findings show that on the national scale, as well as in rural areas and smaller urban areas, internal migrants have stronger impacts on housing availability than foreign-born migrants. However, when breaking down foreign-born migrants into smaller groups, it is found that refugees have strong impacts on housing availability, too. Furthermore, evidence of overall and refugee migration having an indirect influence on the production of new housing stock is also found.     

Modelling internal migration in Kenya: an econometric analysis with limited data

"In this paper the determinants of internal migration in Kenya are analyzed on the basis of a human capital model. Explanatory variables included in the specification are both economic (wage rates and employment rates) and noneconomic (for example, population density and educational attainment). Also incorporated are variables which reflect intervening opportunities.... The econometric results show that destination variables are important determinants of internal migration, as is distance between the districts. Further, the variables for the intervening opportunities add significantly to the explanatory power of the model."     

Destination choice of interstate family migrants to selected areas in California

In this study an attempt has been made to construct a destination choice model for those families who migrated to California from other states between the years 1965 and 1970.The empirical work is based on a Public Use Sample of Basic Records from the 1970 Census; the technique of estimation used in this study is McFadden's maximum likelihood (multinomial logit technique which often is referred to as conditional logit).Our findings confirm the hypothesis that various groups of migrants respond somewhat differently to the geographic and economic stimuli in selecting their destinations in California. While white family migrants pay attention to the level of expected earnings in selecting their destinations, black family migrants are more concerned with the expansion of economic opportunities (i.e., growth rates of income and employment).     

Internal migration and educational outcomes in Italy: Evidence from a cohort of youths

This paper analyses the educational outcomes and the human capital accumulation of a cohort of youths, focusing on their family origin. Using a unique survey of a Northern Italian province traditionally interested by large internal migration inflows especially from the South, we find that migrants' children have a higher probability of early dropout, especially in the case of males. This evidence calls into question the integration of internal migrants, for whom education plays a crucial role, even in a period in which foreign immigration seems to be of major concern.     

Dynamics of job satisfaction around internal migrations: a panel analysis of young people in Britain and Australia

There is ample evidence that internal migration is a vehicle for upwards economic and social mobility, particularly amongst young educated people, with studies documenting favourable effects on objective labour market outcomes such as employment status, earnings and occupational standing. However, this literature has been more silent about the potential effects of internal migration on subjective measures of utility. In this paper I use panel data from Australia and Britain and panel regression models to examine whether and how internal migration is associated with young people’s self-reported job satisfaction, paying attention to the time dynamics underpinning the associations. This enables gaining a more holistic picture of the outcomes associated with internal migration during early adulthood. Key findings indicate that long-distance and work-motivated migrations have positive and statistically significant effects on the job satisfaction of young people in Britain and Australia, particularly amongst those who hold university degrees. Additionally, the results reveal time patterns in the ways in which job satisfaction and residential mobility intersect: long-term trends in job dissatisfaction can trigger internal migration, and internal migration can set long-term onwards trends in job satisfaction. I conclude by calling for further research on the outcomes of internal migration on subjective well-being leveraging the properties of panel data and using a life course approach.     

Hierarchically organized migration fields: The application of higher order factor analysis to population migration tables

The structure of human geographical systems is often of a hierarchical nature. Population migration systems can usefully be conceptualized as a series of hierarchically related levels of migration fields: the fields at one level nesting within the fields at the next higher level. Such migration fields and the relationships between different levels can be extracted from large population migration origin-destination matrices with the aid of higher order factor analysis.     

Immigration and the City: Some Demographic Facts and Issues

Unquestionably, migration has become a predominant factor in the growth of all mainland capital cities of Australia, partly because of the relatively low fertility extant, partly because of the level of immigration to Australia and, also, because of high levels of interstate internal migration. In fact, the migration components oif growth have varied for decades between Australian cities – with strong overseas migration and internal migration together resulting in annual rates of growth of over 3 per cent per annum in Perth, and strong internal migration and lesser but significant immigration sustaining almost comparable growth rates in metropolitan Brisbane. Much of the internal migration net gain to these two cities comprises migration from Sydney and Melbourne, particularly the former.     

Recent Suburbanization of Blacks How Much,Who, and Where

According to national survey data, blacks have become net migrants from central cities since 1970. Although this reversal of a long-established trend is generally welcomed, critics fear it may be resulting from displacement rather than preference.

Using Census and Annual Housing Survey data on intrametropolitan migration over three time periods, this paper examines the implications of trend reversal for black suburbanization in nineteen of the nation's largest metropolitan areas (SMSAs). Although black net outmigration from cities is generally observed, in only seven of the SMSAs do black rates of movement from city to suburb yet approach those of whites. In most of the other twelve SMSAs, black rates of outmovement have increased little since 1970 and remain well below white rates. Blacks who are above average in income and education consistently have higher rates of outmovement, suggesting that suburban movement still reflects choice more than displacement.     

Are project-based organizations willing to learn compliance lessons from sanctioned organizations close to them? The moderating effect of knowledge base compatibility and strength of the event

To crack down on rule violations by organizations, previous studies have mainly advocated improving the deterrent effect of sanctions by increasing punishment and strengthening supervision. However, violations stepping on the ‘red line’ remain rampant, despite an increasingly serious regulatory environment. In this respect, factors determining an organization's ability to learn from sanctions against others have barely been investigated. To address this issue, this study investigated the deterrent effect of sanctions from the perspective of the social distance between the sanctioned organization and observing organization and explored the moderating effects of knowledge base compatibility, as well as the strength of sanction event. Empirical evidence based on three vignette-based experiments that simulated a multinational project-based organization in the construction industry, a typical industry with serious violations, was sanctioned for failure to comply with host country regulations, showed that the deterrent effect of a sanction event is greater for organizations that are closer to the sanctioned organization than for those that are far from the target. Moreover, when knowledge base compatibility with the sanctioned organization was higher or when the sanction event was more novel, disruptive and critical for observing organizations, the deterrent effect of sanctions was extended and the observing organizations learned more compliance lessons from the sanction. Based on these findings, this study contributes to project governance and provides useful strategies for regulators and policymakers to control violations by expanding the deterrent effect of sanctions.