CHAPTER 24 - Internal Migration: A Comparative Systemic View

Abstract

This chapter presents a comparative systemic view on internal migration. Migration involves the spatial redistribution of the population and thus, of both the productive and the decision-making agents. The economic systems in the area of origin and area of destination are among the factors influencing, directly or indirectly, the strength of the pull or the push. On the other hand, migration can in its turn affect the economic systems in the areas of origin and destination. The economic system is defined in terms of three component structures: (1) the decision-making, (2) motivation, and (3) information structures. The decision-making structure defines the allocation of decision-making power among various agents, including the extent of centralization or concentration of this power among a small subset of all agents, and the basis for that power. In centrally planned economies, the planners tend to use both manipulative and administrative controls, including actual prohibitions on migration. In a market system, would-be migrants require information on job opportunities, wages, and amenities in the regions to which they are considering a move, as well as on costs of moving, in order to calculate the costs and benefits of the move. The ability to obtain this information varies with the “distance” of the point of destination.