Migration and
Development
The Nature and Significance of
Migration in Development
 Initially migration from rural to urban areas
was viewed as a favorable development
 Natural process in which surplus labor was
gradually drawn to urban industrial areas
 Socially desirable to improve and enhance
an individual’s growth and knowledge
 But now rates of rural to urban migration
far exceed rates of job creation and
surpass absorptive ability of industry
Dilemmas of Migration
 Migration exacerbates rural-urban
structural imbalance—causes urban
surplus labor
 Depletes rural areas of valuable human
capital
 Urban job creation is more difficult to
create than rural employment
 Central to development dilemma
because policies affecting rural and
urban incomes will drive migration
 In turn this affects geographical and
structural pattern of economic activity
Consequences of Population
Movement
 A>>>>1000>>>>B- results in rise of average
age and death rate in Region A; birth rate falls
and relieves population pressure
 Gross Migration: +10,500 (Inward movement) 8,500 (Outward movement)
 Net Migration is 2,000 but Gross Migration is
19,000
 +10,500 and -10,500: Net Migration is ?
 Gross Migration is?
Types of Movement
 Migration- movement of people from origin to
destination with intent to remain permanently
 Circulation- movement from location to
another but the intent is to return to the origin.
Stays in a destination may be up to six months
or longer for purposes of crop harvesting or
other temporary or seasonal work
 Commuting- daily movement between
residence and place of work
Push-Pull Model of
Movement- Everett Lee
Origin
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Destination
Barriers:
CostPerceptionInformation
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Factors in the Migration Process
 Migration is a selective process- affects
individuals with certain economic, social,
educational and demographic characteristics
 Social- desire of migrants to break away from
tradition
 Physical- migration sometimes forced by
environmental conditions or catastrophic events
(floods, drought, typhoons)
 Demographic- high rates of rural growth
producing landlessness
 Cultural- security of extended family in
destination
 Communications and Transport- growing ease
of learning about and moving to a destination
Factors in Migration Process
 But the major reason, by general
consensus, is ECONOMIC
 Push from subsistence agriculture to
higher wages
 Potential reverse migration toward rural
areas as result of high unemployment
brought about by lack of employment
Migrant Characteristics
 Demographic- young men and women between
ages 15-24
 Recently proportion of young women has
increased as educational opportunities have
improved- especially in Latin America and
Southeast Asia
 Female migration of two types: ‘associational’
migration following ‘primary’ male migrant and
‘unattached females’
 Education- clear association between migration
and educational attainment: more education >
greater propensity to migrate
 But poorly educated also move in search of
better life
Migrant Characteristics
 Economic- for many years migrants were poor
landless and unskilled
 Now with greater development of industrial
bases and more services especially , migrants
seem to come from all strata with majority
being very poor
 Migration stimulated by rational economic
considerations of relative benefits and costs,
mostly financial but also psychological
Movement Characteristics
 Migrants generally move shorter distances
rather than longer ones. Why? More familiar with
nearer opportunities and less costly
 Counterstream Movement- Stream is defined
as movement from origin to destination;
counterstream is reverse from destination to
origin
 Efficiency is the ratio of the Stream to
Counterstream: high effciency means virtually all
stay at destination; low efficiency means that
many return to origin
 Stepwise Migration- move in stages from
smaller city to medium sized to eventually larger
city. Why? Cost efficient and psychologically
easier