Modelling the evolution of heterogeneity in residential mobility

Migration probabilities are known to vary over the population (heterogeneity) and over time (nonstationarity). It is shown that if the heterogeneity is represented by an SB mixing distribution and the nonstationarity by a set of arbitrary logistic scaling functions, then not only may all sources of heterogeneity, including tastes, be modelled, but heterogeneity at different points in time may be readily compared. The model is calibrated using data previously published by Clark et al. (1977, 1979) for a sample of 1,176 older renters and is found to fit well. The changing heterogeneity over the ten-year period of observation is represented graphically.