Human Migration

The module is focused on population movements within the city, across regions, and between countries. Reasons for moves at each of these levels are examined in terms of their spatial, societal, and political contexts. The module describes and interprets the statistical models which have been formulated for the explanation of moves within the city and across regions. At all levels of movement--local, regional, and international--the module stresses the contextual nature of migration and its setting within the larger social background. There is a special emphasis on the relationship of mobility to housing markets, and migration to labor markets. Although designed for geographers, the interdisciplinary nature of migration is emphasized, and contributions from economists, sociologists, and demographers are incorporated in the book. The introductory chapter examines the basic demographic equation and discusses the relationship of migration to age, education, and income. The second chapter on residential mobility focuses on the well-established, short distance of intraurban moves and the way in which these moves can be classified and related to the concept of a household′s passage through the life cycle. The chapter on interregional migration draws on research by economists, geographers, and demographers to present the classic gravity model interpretations of interregional flows and the recent attempts to provide theories of interregional flows that are incorporated in the human capital theory of migration and its extension to family migration. The chapter on international migration considers the changing global patterns of migration and their impact on both origin and receiving areas. The chapter ranges in content from a discussion of guest workers in Europe to undocumented migration in the United States. The main aim of the module is to provide a succinct introduction to the study of migration and its links to the wider social structure. "The volume provides report on interesting recent research, supplementing other publications, and offers ideas for further research--hypotheses to be tested and methodologies that can be used. Extensive references. Appropriate for upper-division and graduate collections." --Choice "This unit module of the Scientific Geography Series is a succcess and provides the reader with an urge to read the other six of the series. As the subject of migration is of inter-disciplinary interest, the book should be read by students of demography and population geography, sociology, anthropology, urban and regional economics, regional science and economic geography, city and regional planning and marketing." --Journal of Population Studies