The Interstate Migration of U.S. Immigrants: Individual and Contextual Determinants

Abstract

Using data from the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample, this article examines the sources of differentials between immigrants and natives in interstate migration in the 1985-90 period. Three sets offactors are evaluated to determine whether they account for differences between immigrants of different origins and natives: individual human capital social capital of nativity groups, and economic conditions in state of residence. The analysis shows that while human capitalfactors are the most important sources of differences between immigrants and natives in internal migration patterns, contextual dimensions associated with the social capital of nativity groups and state economic conditions also strongly influence interstate migration of immigrants. Recent research on the internal migration of immigrants in the U.S. indicates that national origin groups differ considerably from each other and from natives in their migration propensities. Bartel and Koch (1991), for instance, looked at internal migration rates for immigrant men in the 1975-80 period and found that men originating in Asia and England were two to three times as likely to migrate than men from Central and South America. Kritz and Nogle (1994) examined sources of variation in migration rates for the 17 largest nativity groups in the same period and observed that whereas only 10.8% of Mexicans migrated, 47.7% of Indians did so. The latter study also found that propensity to migrate varied considerably across immigrant groups from the same region. Kritz and Nogle showed, for example, that interstate migration rates were twice as high for