MIGRATION AS A WAY TO DIVERSIFY: EVIDENCE FROM RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION IN THE U.S.

This paper extends the utility maximization model of migration by introducing income and unemployment‐related uncertainties as determinants of utility, and analyzes the effects of the informational advantages of migrants. The paper maintains that migration would expand an individual's economic choices and opportunities and allow diversification. Consequently, diversification advantages influence the location decisions of migrants, an effect captured by the correlation of incomes at the origin and potential destinations. We use the discrete choice model based on random utility maximization as the framework for our empirical investigation of migration from the United States rural to urban counties. This paper takes advantage of an equivalent relation between the conditional logit model and Poisson regression to study the migration decisions using aggregate data among a large set of spatial alternatives. The results show that the diversification concerns have significant effects on location decisions of the rural‐urban migrants in the United States.     

ESTIMATING INTERREGIONAL UTILITY DIFFERENTIALS*

ABSTRACT The major objective of this paper is to estimate regional utility levels based on interregional migration data. We first revealed three stylized facts concerning migration behavior by examining long‐term Japanese data on interregional migration. We then uncovered inconsistency between net migration and utility differential in the presence of distance‐related migration costs. Based on the stylized facts and the inconsistency problem, we formulated an operational model and estimated interregional utility differentials. We showed that the interregional utility differentials converged until the late 1970s. We also showed that the utility estimates are highly correlated with the per capita real income. We also applied the model to interregional migration data in the United States and Canada and confirmed the model's validity.     

SOME EVIDENCE THAT WOMEN ARE MORE MOBILE THAN MEN: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN U.K. GRADUATE MIGRATION BEHAVIOR

ABSTRACT.  In this paper we employ dichotomous, multinomial and conditional logit models to analyze the employment-migration behavior of some 380,000 U.K. university graduates. By controlling for a range of variables related to human capital acquisition and local economic conditions, we are able to distinguish between different types of sequential migration behavior from domicile to higher education and on to employment. Our findings indicate that U.K. female graduates are generally more migratory than male graduates. We suggest that the explanation for this result lies in the fact that migration can be used as a partial compensation mechanism for gender bias in the labor market.     

COLLEGE-TO-WORK MIGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY GRADUATES AND HOLDERS OF DOCTORATES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES

ABSTRACT.  This study estimates a series of random parameter logit models of the college-to-work migration decisions of technology graduates and holders of doctorates within the United States. We employ detailed information on the migration-relevant characteristics of individuals, as well as on their actual origins and destinations at the metropolitan scale. In addition to its obvious implications for "brain drain" policies in U.S. metropolitan areas, the study demonstrates the richness of the random parameters technique for behavioral-geographic analysis. We find that science and technology graduates migrate to better educated places, other things equal; that PhD graduates pay greater attention to amenity characteristics than other degree holders; and that foreign students from some immigrant groups migrate to places where those groups are concentrated.     

THE JOINT CHOICE OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S OCCUPATION AND DESTINATION*

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between an individual's occupation choice and destination choice. It portrays the relationship as an interaction between the supply of occupational skills by individuals and demand by different labor‐market regions. The unusual merger of a multinomial logit model of occupational choice and the conditional logit model of destination choice in a simultaneous equation framework requires derivation of a unique variance–covariance matrix. Results indicate strong association between supply of (migration) and demand for (industry mix) an individual's occupational skills. These effects are especially strong for destinations experiencing slow economic growth, while relatively unimportant for high‐growth locations.     

History of Russian-U.S. Relations, 1867–1921

Books reviewed in this article:
Norman E. Saul, Concord and Conflict: The United States and Russia, 1867–1914
Norman E. Saul, War and Revolution: The United States and Russia, 1914–1921     

The evolving quality of trade between Canada and the United States

This article examines the quality level of trade between Canada and the United States, 1979–2003, to investigate the relevance of staples theory for Canada. After disentangling the quality levels of trade, it is found that the pattern of quality-level trade changed significantly around the time free trade was established between Canada and the United States. Before free trade, Canada was moving into the lower end of quality, but after the establishment of free trade, Canada is now moving into the higher end of quality trade with the United States. This observation potentially means that Canada is moving out of the staples trap.     

ARE IMMIGRANTS MORE MOBILE THAN NATIVES? EVIDENCE FROM GERMANY

Low rates of internal migration in many European countries contribute to the persistence of significant regional labor market differences. I use the Mikrozensus, a large annual sample of households living in Germany, to further our understanding of the underlying reasons. This paper makes two main contributions: first, the paper quantifies the disutility of migrating. To this end, I estimate conditional logit models of the migration decision across the German federal states. Second, I then focus on the differences between immigrants and natives. I find significantly higher responsiveness to labor market differentials in the immigrant population than in the native population. Unobserved moving costs for immigrants are estimated to be only about 31 percent of this same cost for natives. The findings bear on the assessment of the economic impact of immigration, and the paper contributes to the current immigration‐related policy debates that feature prominently in many European countries, and that likely will continue to be important in light of the ongoing EU expansion and the resulting east–west migration.     

The Location Choice of Employment‐based Immigrants among U.S. Metro Areas*

Abstract. This paper examines the initial location choice of legal employment‐based immigrants to the United States using Immigration and Naturalization Service data on individual immigrants, as well as economic, demographic, and social data to characterize the 298 metropolitan areas we define as the universal choice set. Focusing on interactions between place characteristics and immigrant characteristics, we provide multinomial logit model estimates for the location choices of about 38,000 employment‐based immigrants to the United States in 1995, focusing on the top 10 source countries. We find that, as groups, immigrants from nearly all countries are attracted to large cities with superior climates, and to cities with relatively well‐educated adults and high wages. We also find evidence that employment‐based immigrants tend to choose cities where there are relatively few immigrants of nationalities other than their own. However, when we introduce interaction terms to account for the sociodemographic characteristics of the individual immigrants, we find that the estimated effects of location destination factors can reverse as one takes account of the age, gender, marital status, and previous occupation of the immigrants.     

A demographic analysis of the population growth of states, 1950-1980

Factors affecting regional differences in population growth in the United States are explored. "In this study, we estimated the contributions of births, deaths, and migration to changes in population size between 1950 and 1980 for the 48 contiguous states in the United States. We found that population momentum (i.e., the growth that would occur in a closed population if fertility and mortality rates remained constant) had the largest effect on population growth in most states, but that differences in net migration were the major cause of state-to-state differences in growth rates. We also found that net migration has been gaining in importance compared to natural increase as a component of population growth. We expect this trend to continue in coming decades." This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1988 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (see Population Index, Vol. 54, No. 3, Fall 1988, p. 429).     

Foreign-owned Firms' Campaign Contributions in the United States: An Exploratory Study

This study extends previous empirical work on corporate political activity by examining which foreign-owned firms provide campaign contributions to United States legislators. While numerous studies have examined which domestic firms make campaign contributions, little is known about the propensity of foreign-owned firms to make contributions. Using logit and Tobit analyses, the findings suggest that firm size, legislative issues, foreign ownership, and cultural characteristics are important determinants of a foreign-owned firm's political strategy. The findings also suggest that there are strong parallels between the political strategies of foreign-owned firms and domestic firms.     

Probing the reds and blues: Sectionalism and voter location in the 2000 and 2004 U. S. presidential elections

The election outcomes of a place hinge largely on what is within its political boundaries: economic, social, cultural, and other compositional factors facing voters. Yet, it is also important to investigate geographic context, both within and between places. This study presents renewed emphasis on two geographic factors that relate to electoral outcomes while controlling for compositional attributes: sectional distinctions and population density. Within different regions of the United States and across different locations (urban, suburban, and rural residents), there exist notable differences in presidential voting. Using survey and county-level data on the 2000 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections, this study evaluates the partisan preferences of voters from a regional perspective, and from a density perspective. The findings demonstrate independent relationships between section and voting, and location and voting. A major consequence of the distinctiveness of section and location in the face of migration effects (as noted by others) is the increased spatial polarization of the electorate's political preferences in these recent presidential contests.     

"The Big and the Small of it" Perspectives in Latin American-U.S.Relations

Linda B. Hall. OIL, banks, and Politics: The United States and Postrevolutionary Mexico, 1917–1924
Thomas F. O'brien. The Revolutionary Mission: American Enterprise in Latin America, 1900–1945     

Cultural Factors in U.S.-India Relations

Book reviewed in this article:
Andrew J. Rotter, Comrades at Odds: The United States and India, 1947–1964     

The United States and the Final Years of White Rule in Zimbabwe

Books reviewed in this article:
Gerald Horne, From the Barrel of a Gem: The United States and the War against Zimbabwe 1965–1980
Andrew DeRoche, Black, White, and Chrome: The United States and Zimbabwe, 1953–1998     

U.S. Imperialism in Central America

Thomas D. Schoonover. The United States in Central America, 1860–1911: Episodes of Social Imperialism and Imperial Rivalry in the World System .     

Migration with a composite amenity: the role of rents

An attempt is made to analyze the phenomenon of migration using rent as the single variable that could serve as a proxy for the many amenities that might affect migration patterns. A theoretical treatment of the implications of rent capitalization for migration is first outlined. Empirical results indicating the usefulness of this approach are then presented. The geographic focus of the study is on the United States.     

The U.S. Intervention in Guatemala: The Documentary Record

U.S. Department of State . Foreign Relations of the United States , 1952 – 1954 : Guatemala . Washington, DC : U.S. Government Printing Office , 2003 . 461 pp. $ (hardcover).     

The Export-Import Bank and U.S. Foreign Economic Relations

Book reviewed:
William H. Becker and William M. McClenahan, Jr. The Market, the State, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States , 1934 – 2000. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2003. xii + 340 pp. $80.00 (cloth).