Multi-Scalar Analyses on Migrant Settlement-Site Selection

Rather than a singular event, migration is a complex series of temporal and spatial phenomenon occurring on a number of scales. As such, our frameworks and theories for understanding migration, and in particular explaining push and pull factors, are drawn from various disciplines. This thesis uses a variety of economic and sociological theories to explore the factors which influence migration settlement decisions. The three chapters approach the question of migration mobility at different scales. The first chapter explores the relationship between migrant location and poverty concentration in receiving society, exploring the co-location of migrants and poverty at the neighborhood level. The second chapter investigates the responsiveness of migrants to regional conditions focusing on a singular ethnic group. Finally, the third chapter examines the effect of individual characteristics and interregional migration. The intent is to contribute to the field of migration studies through an evaluation of how individual, place-based, and community-level factors influence migratory flows and settlement patterns. The first chapter uses novel neighborhood data in the five cities of Netherlands to explore the link between migrant presence and the contribution of migrants in space. The findings suggest that neighborhoods with higher migrant concentrations have significantly higher levels of poverty relative to those populated by the Dutch. The chapter also explores differences between groups and some of the common explanations for these differences. This chapter furthermore studies how specific elements may establish the pattern of ethnic neighborhood and poverty. The prevailing argument in migration literature is that migration is relatively inelastic in Europe. The second chapter explores whether that is true, focusing on the response of Filipino labor migrants to economic and demographic indicators within the twenty regions of Italy. The findings offer support for prior scholarship which has shown that the presence of Filipino migrant stock is the most significant variable driving locational decision making. This is noteworthy given the emphasis in the literature on Italian regional labor market differentiation and the spatial distribution of labor. Finally, the third chapter explores interregional migration in Great Britain and the effect of migration on wage at the regional level. The findings show that individual characteristics are largely insignificant in determining regional migration but are highly important in influencing wages. Controlling for selectivity bias, this thesis identifies the influence of education, skills, and housing tenure on migration decision and wages.