The spatial structure of migration: an analysis of flows between states in the USA over three decades

"Migration flows between states in the [United States] over three decades are analysed using a general spatial interaction model. The role of geographic distance and a more general distance conception are examined, as is the stability of the spatial structure over time. Results imply that although migration structures reflect geographic distance, other stable factors, reflecting idiosyncratic ties between locations, are important as well. This suggests that the common practice in migration research of ignoring spatial structure to focus on individual locations is misleading. The particular ties between locations cannot be ignored in examining total migration at a location at one point in time. In examining changes over time, however, we can limit consideration to the relative draw and sending effects at each location because the spatial structure is quite stable over extended periods." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND GER)