Decisionmaking Analysis of Household Mobility and Migration in the United States, 1985-89
Author: Max Lu
Dissertation School: Indiana University
Pages: 152
Publication Date: January 1996
Availability:
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Access Number: 8279
Descriptors:
Migration. Residential location.
Abstract:
This doctoral dissertation seeks to understand the role of attitudinal variables in household migration decision making. It examines relationships among residential satisfaction, mobility intentions and actual moving behavior based on a nationwide representative sample from the American Housing Survey and a four-year observation period (1985-89). The study first proposed a general conceptual model of migration decision making based on the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior. The model simultaneously incorporates how socio-economic variables, mobility predispositions and subsequent relocation behavior may be interrelated. Emperical analysis of the relationships was then conducted by means of discrete choice (logit) models. The results show that both residential satisfaction and mobility intentions are important antecedents of migration decisions. Though place-to-place variations exist, individuals dissatisfied with their dwelling and neighborhood are more likely to contemplate a move than are their satisfied counterparts; individuals with a mobility intention are more likely to relocate than are those without mobility intentions. However, the mediating role of these attitudinal constructs as intervening variables between structural variables and mobility behavior appears to be limited. Migration decisions are shaped jointly by structural variables, housing and neighborhood perceptions, as well as mobility intentions. Overall, the findings of this study clearly point to a more complicated picture of the links between cognitive constructs and overt behavior than the simplistic view previously assumed. [AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED]
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