Regional migration and ethnic Russian population change in the USSR (1959-79)

"The related topics of regional net migration and ethnic Russian population redistribution and change in the USSR are investigated for the intercensal period 1970-79 in comparison to 1959-70 by economic regions and subdivisions. The results reveal that the main migration and Russian shifts continued to be from internal to peripheral regions. However, compared with the 1959-70 period, regional rates for 1970-79 were more equalized, and a south-to-north shift seemed to be occurring in both cases." The author notes that "aggregate measures...suggest that the traditional eastward movement of Russians is slowing. Correlation analysis indicates that migration and ethnic Russian change patterns are associated with selected indices of modernization. The south-to-north shift, in particular, has been fairly strong in relation to changes in capital investment. Prospects of a northward migration of Turkic Moslems from Central Asia are also discussed."