Describing migration spatial structure

Abstract

The age structure of a population is a fundamental concept in demography and is generally depicted in the form of an age pyramid. The spatial structure of an interregional system of origin-destination-specific migration streams is, however, a notion lacking a widely accepted definition. We offer a definition in this article, one that draws on the log-linear specification of the geographer's spatial interaction model. We illustrate our definition with observed migration data, we discuss extensions and special cases, and proceed to contrast our definition and associated empirical findings against another measure having an alternative definition. Show more