Migration in Arctic Alaska: Empirical Evidence of the Stepping Stones Hypothesis

Lance Howe, Lee Huskey and Matthew Berman ()
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Matthew Berman: Institute of Social and Economic Research and Department of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage

No 2011-03, Working Papers from University of Alaska Anchorage, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper explores hypotheses of hierarchical migration using data from the Alaskan Arctic. We focus on migration of Iñupiat people, who are indigenous to the region, and explore the role of income and subsistence harvests on migration. To test related hypotheses we use confidential micro-data from the US Census Bureau’s 2000 Decennial Census of Population and Income and generate migration probabilities using a mixed multinomial and conditional logit model. Our findings are broadly consistent with Ravenstein’s (1885) early hypothesis of step-wise migration; we find evidence of step-wise migration, both up and down an urban and rural hierarchy. We also find that where migrants choose to live is a function of place, personal, and household characteristics.

Keywords: Migration; Hierarchical Migration; Rural to Urban Migration; Arctic Alaska (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J61 O15 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-mig and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ala:wpaper:2011-03

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