Non-metropolitan migration: the influence of neglected variables
Cook, A.K.
Rural Sociology 52(3): 409-418
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-0112 Document Number: 349925
The recessionary period of the early 1980s coincided with a decrease in the population growth rate of rural areas, so that these areas are once again growing more slowly than metropolitan ones. The key factors affecting net migration during this time were considered comparing the influence of variables used in past research (employment growth and diversity, commuting, retirement migration, income, unemployment, age structure, and adjacency) with the influence of two previously neglected variables (non-farm self employment and percentage of the labour force that is female) reflecting recent changes in the employment structure of the USA. Results suggest that, for the early part of this decade, these new variables are more important determinants of migration to rural areas than are past variables.