Selectivity of Mexican American intraregional migration in the Southwest.

Abstract

A significant amount of research in the last several decades has examined the migration of different racial groups such as whites and blacks in the US. Such studies have identified important demographic and socioeconomic predictors of migration. Mexican Americans represent 1 group that has largely been neglected in this respect. This study examines the relationship among demographic and socioeconomic variables and intraregional migration among Mexican Americans in 5 southwest states. Data from a subsample of 6137 householders included in the 1980 Public Use Microdata Sample are used for this purpose. The findings demonstrate that while some of the predictor variables are significantly related to migration, others are not. The results demonstrate the need for further research examining the extent to which previous findings on migration selectivity can be generalized to different racial and ethnic groups.