Migration and Residential Mobility: Macro and Micro Approaches

This text studies the movement of people between regions and within cities in such developed countries as the United States, Canada, England and Sweden. The author presents the major theoretical and empirical issues of the field, while describing and explaining various kinds of statistical models for migration. In particular, he uses structural equation models to specify the interrelations of variables that affect migration. Drawing together concepts and methods from geography, economics, sociology, demography and other fields, he provides a unifying geographical emphasis on the relationships among socioeconomic processes and spatial patterns. The book covers both macro and micro approaches to migration. The macro approach explains broad patterns of migration by measuring characteristics of the socioeconomic and physical environments, while the micro approach explains why individual people move, using a model of psychological decision-making processes. Cadwaller also makes a distinction between interregional migration and residential mobility within cities. The book has been designed both as a text for courses in population geography and migration and as a resource for planners working on migration issues.