Evidence of the gravity model at work can be seen in interstate migration within the United States. Using the example of Nebraska, located near the center of the country, we can see that more immigrants came from nearby Iowa and Missouri, two states that also have populations larger than many other surrounding states (figure 3.25). These migration flows would be predicted by the model, based on both distance and population size. Being nearby, people from these states will have more information on the economic opportunities in Nebraska, and the costs associated with moving and with return visits to friends and family will be lower. At the same time, we see evidence of population size playing a large role in where immigrants to Nebraska came from. Both California and Texas were the origins of many of these immigrants. With their large populations, these states have a larger pool of potential emigres. Inevitably, some of the immigrants will relocate to other states, some nearby but others farther away.
Figure 3.25.The gravity model: Migration to Nebraska. Data source: US Census.
Social networks and information flows
Distance, intervening obstacles and population size influence migration patterns, but these flows are further complicated by social networks and information flows from individuals and the media that connect specific places. When migrants make the decision to leave a place because of push forces, they do not consider all potential destinations. Rather, they base their decisions on available information. This information is inherently incomplete and is dependent on social connections and media sources. Information flows are enhanced when places have economic or political ties. For example, linkages formed through trade and investment, colonization and political influence, and cultural connections can facilitate information flows and lead to migration.
Media information can come from advertisement campaigns that promote the economic benefits of a place as well as images in newspapers, magazines, television, and online (figure 3.26). Many people around the world have seen media images of the United States and Western Europe and their high levels of economic development. Partially due to these images, there are always large numbers of migrants who desire to move to these places.
Media images also shape migration patterns at more regional and local scales. For example, many Zimbabweans have migrated to South Africa on the basis of information that the economic situation there, while difficult, was more stable than in Zimbabwe. Likewise, within the United States, media information flows impact migration. Many Californians have migrated to Texas, partially because of Texan media campaigns promoting the state as an affordable destination with a strong pro-business government. On the other hand, Texans also move to California, no doubt in part because of media images of beaches and a year-round pleasant climate.
Aside from media images, social connections also play a powerful role in information flows and resulting migration patterns. Pioneer migrants are the first migrants to arrive in a new place. These trailblazers may arrive for any number of reasons: for university studies, a chance job opening, a romantic partner, or a search for novelty and adventure. They tend to be young and single, without family and financial responsibilities that tie them to their home place. These pioneer migrants then provide information to friends and family. Through letters, phone calls, email, and social media, they can share information on their lives in a new location, including job and wage information and quality of life. If those friends and relatives then feel push forces in their place of origin that are strong enough, they are more likely to be pulled to the place about which they have positive information.
Figure 3.26.Media and information flows. Images from media, such as Hollywood, influence where people emigrate to. Photo by bannosuke. Stock photo ID: 85556125. Shutterstock.
Once social networks between pioneer migrants and their place of origin take hold, chain migration can begin. Friends, family, and neighbors begin to migrate to where pioneer migrants have established a foothold. Early migrants smooth the process by helping new migrants find work and housing. New migrants then pass information on to their own friends and family back home, further reinforcing and deepening social network connections. As time progresses, chain migration can create substantial migrant enclaves in specific parts of a city or region.
In the case of Long Beach, California, Cambodia Town formed through this process. In 1975, Cambodians fleeing the genocidal Khmer Rouge that had taken control of Cambodia were brought as refugees to Camp Pendleton marine base south of Los Angeles. A small group of about ten Cambodian families that lived in Southern California formed an organization to assist the refugees. The organization was based in Long Beach, and soon Cambodian families began moving into the city for its relatively affordable housing and mild climate that allowed for year-round gardening. This group of Cambodians then began sharing information about the city with Cambodian refugees in other parts of the US and abroad. These informational flows were more powerful than the US Office of Refugee Settlement, which tried to disperse Cambodian refugees in smaller clusters around the US. As word spread about the benefits of living in Long Beach and the presence of a growing Cambodian cluster, more Cambodians migrated to the city. Long Beach now has an officially designated Cambodia Town, with a thriving community of stores and services that serve the Cambodian population. Immigrant communities throughout the US and around the world form in a similar way, as a small group of pioneer migrants share information and assist the next wave of migrants, ultimately forming strong migration chains between two specific places.
Through cumulative causation, migration flows increase in strength over time. This is the process whereby migration becomes self-sustaining from ongoing positive feedback between immigrants and their place of origin. Early migrants transform places, making them more inviting for new immigrants as businesses open that cater to them and social networks for jobs and housing develop. At the same time, remittances sent to family in the place of origin provide financial resources for more people to emigrate. At a certain point, emigration can become the cultural norm, where all of those who are capable are expected to migrate.
Social and media networks have only become stronger in recent decades. For much of human history, information flows between places were slow, traveling by word of mouth or by handwritten letters. With the invention of the telegraph and later the telephone, information could travel more quickly, but costs and accessibility to these technologies were limited. In recent years, however, communication technology has reached the point that costs have fallen dramatically and accessibility has increased. Low-cost cell phones and internet cafés around the world link people in ways that were never before possible. Migrants can maintain contact with friends and family on a regular basis and share information about job opportunities and quality of life in their new home at limited costs.
Go to ArcGIS Online to complete exercise 3.3: “Refugees.”
Characteristics of migrants
Rubenstein’s pioneering work on migration in the 1800s included the observation that females migrate more than males. While that was true for Great Britain in the nineteenth century, it is not a fixed rule that applies to all times and places. Nevertheless, Rubenstein was correct in that the demographic profile of migrants is not representative of their place of origin. Except in the case of forced migration, where entire populations are forced to move, the characteristics of migrants will differ from the general population they come from in terms of age,