Comparison of Migration Selectivity: Primary and Repeat Migration

Sang Lim Lee, Utah State University

The purpose of this study is to examine the difference of migration selectivity between primary and repeat migration, and also to examine between onward and return migration. This study uses data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 (NLSY79), which contains information about migration history, personal characteristics and place characteristics. Preliminary results indicate that there are clear racial/ethnic differences in migration distribution pattern. For instance, while White population presents the highest primary migration rate, the primary rate of African American group is much lower than the other populations. However, African American population’s onward migration rate, that means movement pattern of people who have experienced migration before is far above the onward migration rate of the other groups. These results are supposed to relate with different mechanisms by migration types to affect moving decision and destination choice.