Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

1977

Keywords

Internal migration, Social aspects, United States

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Economics

First Advisor

Michael B. Tannen

Second Advisor

Alphonse G. Holtmann

Third Advisor

Lorene Y. L. Yap

Abstract

Throughout history, human population has been characterized by significant geographical redistribution in response to climatic changes, varying economic exigencies and other impelling factors such as slavery. While significant intercontinental movements have for the most part been culminated, the process of internal migration is a factor which continues to influence economic growth, development and change of most economic systems. It represents a dynamic adjustment process of individuals and populations to economic and social alternatives and within each system it also serves as an important means of human resource allocation and reallocation among competing geographical alternatives.

Studies of migration flows and characteristics of migrating individuals and family units to determine those factors which systematically contribute to migratory behavior and choice of location have been undertaken by authors within several of the social sciences, including demography, sociology, geography as well as economics. Analytically, the approaches used to identify the determinants of migration have evolved from fairly simple mechanistic relationships, specifically those represented by the gravity and intervening opportunities models, to theoretical and empirical approaches which stress complex behavioral relationships.

A substantial volume of theoretical and empirical analysis of migration is currently in existence, a comprehensive review of which may be found in Greenwood (1975). We note that empirical analysis has demonstrated that several factors systematically stimulate or retard the migration process as well as influencing a migrant’s choice of receiving location.

However notably missing from a majority of both theoretical and empirical analyses has been serious consideration of certain household determinants of migration, specifically the existence of multiple labor force participants and the effect of such participation on household migration and locational choice decisions. Although numerous other aspects of “household” decision making have been analyzed within the economics literature with only limited exception has the relationship between multiple participation and family unit migration been considered. Migration has generally been viewed, not as a family decision process, but as a decision related to the employment and earnings opportunities alternatively available to a family unit’s primary labor force participant.

With women’s participation in the labor market growing in importance it would seem advantageous to consider the influence of various adult roles on the family unit’s migration decision. Therefore, the primary objective of the current analysis is to provide both theoretical and empirical extension of the migration literature to explicitly consider the role of secondary (female) labor force participation in the determination of migratory behavior of family units.

....

Although the preceding discussion alludes to a substantial volume of theoretical and empirical analyses of migration, refinement and extension of these studies seems to not only be possible but desirable. As noted, secondary labor force participation and its relationship to family unit migration has generally been disregarded in the majority of previous studies. Further, in studies which do consider secondary participation, the empirical analysis is not particularly definitive, perhaps due partially to data inadequacies.

With secondary participation increasing in both economic and social importance, understanding the influence of secondary participation patterns on family unit migration decisions seems desirable. Therefore our analysis seeks to extend the understanding of the relationship between secondary participation and family unit migration behavior.

Additionally we have noted that only a limited number of empirical analyses have considered the relationship between migration and a family unit’s expected earnings alternatives, post-migration. While studies utilizing ex post differentials tend to confirm that migration is generally a rational decision with respect to earned income alternatives, further definition of the relationship between expected earnings differentials and migration will serve to expand our understanding of the migration phenomenon. Our analysis therefore will consider migration within an expectational framework, one in which the ex poste rationality of the decision to migrate is uncertain but one in which the ex ante rationality (with respect to expected earnings alternatives) is well defined.

We conclude that while the volume of migration literature is substantial, there exists opportunity to expand and refine our understanding of these two aspects of migration behavior.

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