The heterogeneity of migration in Argentina: A structural analysis
Abstract
Induced by the limited knowledge about the heterogeneity of the migrant population in Argentina, the purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of four different migrant types (settled, first, return, and chronic) in four different urban locations (national metropolis, regional metropolises, large-middle sized cities, and small cities), identify factors that contribute to their existence and explain them following a mostly structural perspective. The study analyzes native-born individuals from a 2 percent sample of the 1980 Argentinean Population Census differentiated by their inter-state migratory status and residence in distinguishable levels of the national urban hierarchy. The analysis employs a multinomial logistic regression to predict the odds of being a migrant compared to a non-migrant. Factors used to explain such odds are sociodemographic (age, sex, marital status, education) and structural (labor force status, industry, occupation, employment sector and urban setting). Results indicate that all factors significantly affect the odds of being a migrant relative to a non-migrant. Furthermore, they provide additional insights regarding the impact of these factors with urban setting, industry, employment sector, and education being distinctively strong. Relative to non-migrants, the odds of being any type of migrant (settled, first, return and chronic) are higher among wage workers of the formal-capitalist sector and most urban industries. Additionally, the odds of settled and first migrants are higher in the larger and more complex urban settings and the least educated. Conversely, the odds of return migrants are higher in the smaller urban settings and the highest educated being chronic migrant odds mixed with regard to urban settings but clearly higher among the highest educated. Findings of the study show that internal migrants in Argentina constitute a quite heterogeneous group in terms of sociodemographic and structural characteristics. They also suggest that migrant heterogeneity has been the consequence of the existence of a diverse set of urban areas of destination with distinctive economic structures that have represented options to move alternative to the national metropolitan area. The study concludes by offering suggestions for further research.
Subject Area
Demographics|Social research
Recommended Citation
Abdala, Felix, "The heterogeneity of migration in Argentina: A structural analysis" (1995). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9530016.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9530016
