Julie DaVanzo

Return and other sequences of migration in the United States

We examine repeat migration sequences in the United States especially those that entail a return, using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Our guiding hypotheses derive from the concepts of location-specific capital and imperfect information. Descriptive analysis elucidates the dynamics, tempo, and differential frequency of repeat migration among various socioeconomic groups. Results disclose differences among migrants who choose to return or move onward to a new location, or do not move again, and lend support to our analytical framework. Major findings are: (1) the propensity to return to an area varies directly with the amount of locationspecific capital that is left behind and inversely with the ex-resident’s length of absence, (2) which repeat migration sequence unfolds—return or onward—depends on the ex-resident’s educational level and experience of unemployment.

Repeat migration, information costs, and location-specific capital

It is well-known from previous research that recent migrants often migrate again. This paper seeks to illuminate several possible mechanisms that might give rise to this association. The effect of previous migration on subsequent migration appears to be largely due to the fact that the consequences of one move often become the cause of the next and that people tend to return to places they recently left. The concepts of location-specific capital (assets that are more valuable in their current location than they would be elsewhere) and information costs provide powerful explanations for the patterns of multiple movement disclosed in the longitudinal data used in this study.

Living Arrangements of Older Malaysians: Who Coresides with Their Adult Children?*

More than two-thirds of Malaysians age 60 or older coreside with an adult child. Data from the Senior sample of the Second Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS-2) are used to investigate which “seniors” (persons age 60 or older) live in this way. The analysis generally supports the notion that coresidence is influenced by the benefits, costs, opportunities, and preferences for coresidence versus separate living arrangements. For example, married seniors are more likely to coreside with adult children when housing costs are greater in their area or when the husband or wife is in poor health. This finding suggests that married parents and children live together to economize on living costs or to receive help with household services. Unmarried seniors who are better off economically are less likely to live with adult children, presumably because they use their higher incomes to “purchase privacy.”

Remittance behavior among Salvadoran and Filipino immigrants in Los Angeles.

This article analyzes the factors that influence remittance behavior (the decision to remit and the amount sent) in the host country of Filipino and Salvadoran immigrants, two groups with high rates of U.S.-bound migration and of remittances. Data for this study come from a multipurpose survey fielded in Los Angeles in 1991 and are analyzed using logistic regressions and OLS. Individual characteristics and financial ability to remit, motivation to migrate, personal investments in the United States, and family obligations in the home and in the host countries are hypothesized to affect remittance behavior. No differences by country of origin in the proportion who send remittances were found, but there were significant differences in the amount remitted. Some variables affect the two country-of-origin groups differently. The size of remittances sent by Salvadorans tends to be relatively insensitive to their characteristics compared with Filipinos. Filipinos’ remittances are more affected by age, family income, having taken English classes in the United States, and living alone than are the remittances of Salvadorans. For both groups, the most consistent factors affecting remittances are family income and the place of residence of close family members.

Living arrangements and the transition to adulthood

The sharp decline with age in the percent of young adults who live with their parents is usually attributed to other concurrent life-cycle changes in the “transition to adulthood.” We investigate this presumption using data tracking high school seniors seven years after graduation. Although marriage and military service strongly reduce residential dependence on parents, other life-cycle changes such as employment and parenthood are only weakly associated with living arrangements and often affect returning home more than leaving. “Leaving home” is often independent of other transition events and should be studied directly to understand recent patterns of family change.

Effects of Interpregnancy Interval and Outcome of the Preceding Pregnancy on Pregnancy Outcomes in Matlab, Bangladesh

Objective  To estimate the effects on pregnancy outcomes of the duration of the preceding interpregnancy interval (IPI) and type of pregnancy outcome that began the interval.

Differences between Return and Nonreturn Migration: An Econometric Analysis

Abstract : The regression equations presented in this report furnish strong and consistent indications that potential return and nonreturn migrants respond quite differently to the factors that condition migration decisions. The importance of treating return and nonreturn migration separately, and recognizing their differences in theories of human migration is underscored. Despite admittedly crude data and some necessary approximations, these differences show through with notable consistency, suggesting that the true underlying relationships may be quite strong. This exercise should be repeated using data that permit a more exact delineation of return migration--for example, residence histories supplemented with information on contemporaneous economic conditions during the reference period. A second notable finding--that return migration probabilities are positively (and significantly) related to distance warrants further investigation with independent data. Finally, this investigation should be extended to other age-sex groups.

How Biological and Behavioural Influences on Mortality in Malaysia Vary during the First Year of Life

Abstract This study uses retrospective data from the 1976–7 Malaysian Family Life Survey to examine the determinants of infant mortality variations in Peninsular Malaysia. It considers proximate biological correlates of mortality as well as family characteristics and behaviour, and inspects the degree to which some of these latter factors exercise their effects indirectly through more proximate factors. It assesses how these influences and interactions change in importance through successive sub-periods of the first year of an infants life. Biological factors such as low birthweight are more important early in the first year of life, while such behavioural and environmental factors as mothers education, or types of water and sanitation system, are more important later. Breast-feeding significantly reduces mortality, especially during the first half of infancy. Unsupplemented breastfeeding is more beneficial than supplemented breast-feeding.

The effects of pregnancy spacing on infant and child mortality in Matlab Bangladesh: How they vary by the type of pregnancy outcome that began the interval.

Using high-quality longitudinal data on 125,720 singleton live births in Matlab, Bangladesh, we assessed the effects of duration of intervals between pregnancy outcomes on infant and child mortality and how these effects vary over subperiods of infancy and childhood and by the type of outcome that began the interval. Controlling for other correlates of infant and child mortality, we find that shorter intervals are associated with higher mortality. Interval effects are greater if the interval began with a live birth than with another pregnancy outcome. In the first week of the childs life, the effects of short intervals are greater if the sibling born at the beginning of the interval died; after the first month, the effects are greater if that sibling was still alive. Many relationships found are consistent with the maternal depletion hypothesis, and some with sibling competition. Some appear to be due to correlated risks among births to the same mother.

Gender Preference and Birth Spacing in Matlab, Bangladesh*

Gender preference, particularly son preference, is believed to sustain high fertility in many Asian countries, but previous research shows unclear effects. We examine and compare gender-preference effects on fertility in two otherwise comparable populations in Bangladesh that differ markedly in their access to and use of contraception. We expect, and find, stronger effects of gender preference in the population that has more access to contraception and higher levels of contraceptive use. Thus gender preference may emerge as a significant barrier to further national family planning efforts in Bangladesh. We find that if a woman has at least one daughter, the risk of a subsequent birth is related negatively to the number of sons. Women with no daughters also experience a higher risk of having a subsequent birth; this finding suggests that there is also some preference for daughters. Son preference is strong in both the early and later stages of family formation, but women also want to have at least one daughter after having several sons.