The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

The accuracy of migration distance measures

På svenska

Author

  • Thomas Niedomysl
  • Ulf Ernstsson
  • Urban Fransson

Summary, in English

The spatial dimension in the definition of internal migration usually refers to the distance someone has tomove to be regarded as a migrant. Lack of precise data on migration distances, however, has obliged migration researchers to use aggregate distance measures whose accuracy is largely unknown, raising potentially serious validity concerns for research. The aim of this paper is to examine the accuracy of standard aggregate measures of migration distance and to seek practicalmeans for improving their validity. Employing uniquely detailed data where individual migration distances for an entire country’s population have been measured with considerable accuracy, the paper compares variants of aggregate distance measures with the actual distance travelled by individual migrants. For the first time, the results shed empirical light on some of the weaknesses of aggregate migration distance measures and, more importantly, also point to their usefulness. The findings show that there is a significant potential to improve the accuracy of migration distance measures; practical suggestions for overcoming the difficulties of using aggregate distance measures are provided.

Publishing year

2017

Language

English

Publication/Series

Population Space and Place

Volume

23

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Human Geography

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1544-8452