The assumption of equilibrium in models of migration

In recent articles Evans (1990) and Harrigan and McGregor (1993) (hereafter HM) scrutinized the equilibrium model of migration presented in a 1989 paper by Schachter and Althaus. This model used standard microeconomics to analyze gross interregional migration flows based on the assumption that gross flows are in approximate equilibrium. HM criticized the model as theoretically untenable, while Evans summoned empirical as well as theoretical objections. HM claimed that equilibrium of gross migration flows could be ruled out on theoretical grounds. They argued that the absence of net migration requires that either all regions have equal populations or that unsustainable regional migration propensities must obtain. In fact some moves are inter- and other are intraregional. It does not follow, however, that the number of interregional migrants will be larger for the more populous region. Alternatively, a country could be divided into a large number of small regions that have equal populations. With uniform propensities to move, each of these analytical regions would experience in equilibrium zero net migration. Hence, the condition that net migration equal zero is entirely consistent with unequal distributions of population across regions. The criticisms of Evans were based both on flawed reasoning and on misinterpretation of the results of a number of econometric studies. His reasoning assumed that the existence of demand shifts as found by Goldfarb and Yezer (1987) and Topel (1986) invalidated the equilibrium model. The equilibrium never really obtains exactly, but economic modeling of migration properly begins with a simple equilibrium model of the system. A careful reading of the papers Evans cited in support of his position showed that in fact they affirmed rather than denied the appropriateness of equilibrium modeling. Zero net migration together with nonzero gross migration are not theoretically incompatible with regional heterogeneity of population, wages, or amenities.     

The effects on earnings of interregional and interindustry migration

"The purpose of this study is to examine a model of the decision to migrate between regions and/or industries and its effect on earnings. The study is based on a large set of individual microdata taken from the [U.S.] Social Security Administration's One Percent Continuous Work History Sample." The data are for 1971 and 1973. "Results of estimation provide strong support for the hypothesis of self-selection among region and industry migrants. Additional empirical evidence supports the notion of comparative advantage in migrant earnings, implying that earnings distributions of individuals who made a particular combination of migration decisions may differ from those of the population as a whole."     

The direction of migration: a dynamic general equilibrium model

A two-sector dynamic general equilibrium model is developed "to investigate the direction of migration in response to differing demographic and consumption demand behavior, as well as variations in production conditions." The model, which involves a rural sector and an urban sector, incorporates "returns to scale and the natural rate of sectoral population growth as important determinants of the direction of migration, in addition to price and income elasticities, and the sectoral technical change rate with which...previous studies dealt."     

Culture as a variable in comparative politics: A review of some recent literature

Bringing culture into the analysis remains a problem for comparative political science. The notion is too vague and elusive — we are reluctant to evoke that amorphous mass of beliefs, institutions and actions which comprise the political culture of any nation when trying to compare policy processes. Only when the interplay of familiar political variables fails to correlate is culture introduced as an explanation of last resort

Recent work seeks more rigour for a cultural variable. Drawing on the anthropology of Mary Douglas and the public policy of Aaron Wildav‐sky, ‘cultural theory’ argues that groups fashion their world in limited and predictable ways. Regime, belief and economy are subsumed by more fundamental choices about the organisation of collective life. Culture is people sharing values which justify social relations.

This paper sketches the premises and findings of cultural theory. It suggests some possibilities for comparative research — and the problems of testing this ambitious reformulation of political culture.     

Migration and the metropolis: recent research on the causes of migration to southeast England

"The paper focuses on one main issue: the relative importance of housing and labour market forces in explaining the volume and nature of migration to the southeast region [of England]." The author reviews recent literature in an attempt to determine "why people migrated to [and from] the southeast...[and] what the consequences of these in-migration and out-migration streams were for their respective origin and destination regions."     

The prehistory of Island Southeast Asia: A multidisciplinary review of recent research

Island Southeast Asia extends across both the equatorial and the intermediate tropical zones of world climate, and it also spans a region of complex and geologically unstable land and sea relationships. The Sundaland region in the west and the isolated islands of Wallacea in the east both witnessed complex trajectories of human movement and evolution during the Pleistocene. The record of human evolution in Sundaland is still affected by uncertainties over phylogeny, dates, and archaeological correlations. Initial human settlement across Huxley's Line into Wallacea cannot at present be proven to be older than the Late Pleistocene. Stone tool industries dating to within the past 40,000 years are described, including new discoveries which indicate a surprising level of technological virtuosity. Human populations of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene are also considered in terms of skeletal and genetic data, particularly with respect to the rather controversial antecedents of the present, mainly Mongoloid, population. The article terminates its coverage at about 2000 B.C., within the period characterized by the expansion of speakers of Austronesian languages and by the expansion of agriculture into a porous and often-resistant network of hunter-gatherer societies. The archaeological and ethnographic records of the region bear witness to a continuous but dwindling existence of hunting and gathering right through to the present day. While the results of archaeology occupy a central position in the reconstruction of Southeast Asian prehistory, a proper understanding can be achieved only if a multidisciplinary standpoint is adopted.     

Gains and losses, outcomes of interregional migration in the five Nordic countries

This paper examines the outcome of interregional migration in various aspects from the migrants' perspective. It is based on a survey, including 6 000 interregional migrants in the five Nordic countries. The results indicate that interregional migration leads to a positive outcome for most migrants and few people seem to be forced to make decisions including painful tradeoffs. Motives have an effect on what aspects of outcome migrants are satisfied with. The influence of individual migrants' characteristics on migration outcome revealed few significant effects. Migrants claimed to be most satisfied with living conditions and less satisfied with the livelihood after moving. To be satisfied with social conditions turned out to be crucially important for the general outcome of migration.     

The neolithic and early bronze age of the Lake Baikal Region: A review of recent research

Rich settlement and burial evidence from the Baikal/Angara region in Central Siberia provides one of the most promising opportunities in the global boreal forest for studying Holocene foragers. The Neolithic and Early Bronze Age prehistory of the region is known to western scholars only through a few English translations of the works of A. P. Okladnikov. Since the publication of Okladnikov's model, the region has witnessed large-scale archaeological fieldwork that has produced abundant quantities of new evidence. Moreover, the model has been partly invalidated by extensive radiocarbon dating. Research advances over the last couple of decades have augmented the area's previous reputation but have also revealed the need for new theoretical perspectives and modern analytical techniques.     

The challenge facing migration research: the case for a biographical approach

"This article argues for an alternative conceptualization of migration which emphasizes its situatedness within everyday life. Our argument is constructed largely with the use of studies of internal migration from the developed world, but it must be stressed that the general theoretical argument could be extended to the study of migration in the developing world. Furthermore, our criticisms of current conceptualizations apply primarily to research into present-day migration rather than to more historical studies."     

The challenge facing migration research: a case for greater awareness

The author critically examines an article by Keith Halfacree and Paul Boyle, in which the authors made a case for a biographical approach to migration research. "My point of contention--incredulous disbelief might be more accurate--stems from their conclusion that the biographical approach should be the ?new' methodological base for an improved paradigm in migration studies."     

Challenging the discipline of migration: militant research in migration studies,an introduction

Abstract

In the last two decades, we have witnessed a proliferation of studies on migrations that, taking human mobility as their focus, contributed to the profiling of migrations as an object of research and to the institutionalization of its stakes. While, on the one hand, this has coincided with the becoming a discipline of migrations (i.e. their acquiring the status of a specific field of scholarly knowledge), it has, on the other hand, coincided with a disciplinarization of migrations themselves, a sort of disciplining effect of migrations' contested politics at the very moment of their academic heyday. This contribution interrogates the discipline of migrations as an academic domain of knowledge, as the governmental conduct of mobility, and as the governmentality at the intersection of these two layers.     

Archaeology in the Pacific Islands: An appraisal of recent research

The Pacific Islands or Oceania, typically subdivided into Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, have witnessed a virtual explosion of archaeological research, as indicated by this review of the past 5 years' literature. Most recent work centers on one or more of six major themes. Two themes are concerned with the movement of people into the Pacific region: the discovery of Pleistocene-age sites in island Melanesia and the search for early assemblages evidencing Austronesian dispersals. Substantial efforts have also focused on reconstructing prehistoric economic behavior and on assessing the impacts that colonizing human populations had on isolated and fragile island ecosystems. In the realm of social archaeology, Oceanic studies have contributed to understanding the long-term dimensions of interisland exchange and to the rise of complex, hierarchical sociopolitical systems, especially chiefdoms.     

Hierarchical households and gendered migration in Latin America: feminist extensions to migration research

In this review essay, the author argues that migration theory can be advanced by analyzing gender differences in migration processes. The author brings together feminist empirical work from diverse settings within Latin America in order to illustrate and discuss theoretical extensions to migration research. In particular, the discussion focuses on the centrality of intra-household power relations and dynamics for understanding who migrates, and with what consequences. The author further argues that these theoretical understandings emerge from the culturally and historically specific operation of processes in particular places within Latin America.     

The growth of an urban landscape: recent research in early medieval Norwich

In 1977, Alan Carter published an appraisal of the early development of Norwich in which he not only reviewed previous assessments of the city's growth but also set out models for testing by a range of archaeological and historical methodologies. Thirty years later, considerable research in Norwich has deepened understanding of pre‐Conquest occupation, identifying more closely the probable development pattern and enabling a re‐assessment and expansion of Carter's ideas. This paper reviews that research, seeking to determine both the character of the urban landscape by 1066 and its likely economic and social diversity, while proposing future research areas.     

Archaeological research in Lesotho: a review of 120 years

Archaeological research in Lesotho over the last 120 years is reviewed. Particular emphasis is given to P. Carter's excavation and survey project in eastern Lesotho and to contract archaeology projects in other parts of the country. Current research and projects involving the study of rock art are also considered. The archaeological potential of Lesotho for addressing a number of themes is discussed. These themes include the reconstruction of prehistoric seasonal mobility patterns, hunter-gatherer adaptations at the Last Glacial Maximum and relations between hunter-gatherer and farming populations. Lesotho's geographical situation lends itself to examining these questions across two distinct ecological gradients, but the richness of its rock art also demonstrates its potential for investigating Stone Age social relations. The importance of developing a more effective national archaeological infrastructure is stressed.

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Résumé Les recherches archéologiques des 120 dernières années sont passées en revue. L'accent est mis tout particuliérement sur les fouilles et le survey conduits dans l'est du Lesotho par P. Carter ainsi que sur les contrats de recherches archéologiques dans d'autres régions du pays. Les recherches en cours et les projets comprennant l'étude de l'art rupestre sont aussi passés en revue.Le potentiel archéologique du Lesotho pour l'étude d'un certain nombre de thèmes est discuté. Ces thèmes comprennent la reconstruction des mouvements saisoniers et des adaptations des chasseurs/cueilleurs durant le dernier maximum glaciaire ainsi que les relations entre les chasseurs/cueilleurs et les populations fermières. Le Lesotho, de par sa situation géographique, permet d'examiner ces questions au travers de deux niveaux écologiques distincts, cependant que la richesse de son art rupestre démontre son potentiel pour étudier les relations sociales durant l'Age de la Pierre. L'importance du développement d'une infrastructure archéologique nationale plus poussée est soulignée.

     

Three problems without a solution: the militant research conundrum and the social condition of migration

Abstract

The article deals with the relation between research and militancy considering migration as a total social fact, employing different theoretical tools coming from the autonomy of migration theory, migrant labour studies and postcolonial critique. By posing to the reader three problems without a solution, the article frames the main features of what the author calls the migration and militant research conundrum. The essay briefly defines the three problems as the problem of the researcher, the problem of militancy in migration research and the problem of politics and migration. The article argues that if it is true that migration is a social relation mediated by different statuses/documents/definitions in the transnational space, it is thus fundamental both for the researcher and for the militant to critically analyze what does it means to be part of this social relation in postcolonial capitalism conditions. The institutional racism produced by different authorities, from the States to international assemblages, and the transnational labour market must be taken into account. Therefore, in order to address the migration and militant research conundrum in a productive manner, it is crucial to understand the specific position of the militant and the researcher vis-à-vis the materiality of rule and the larger political dimension of migration.