IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/114945.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A spatial analysis of the determinants of Inter-regional migration: evidence from Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Ginzinger, Felix Sebastian Veit

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced a rapid population increase and growing urbanization rates in recent years and is bound to have the world's largest urban population. If no steps are taken against it, the fast rise in the urban population will result in severe consequences for urban localities in the developing countries located in this region. Along with the natural population increase, internal migration is one prime reason for a fast-rising urbanization process. Since this type of migration is very common in developing countries, this following paper conducts a spatial analysis of inter-regional migration with special reference to Ghana. Specifically, it analyzes the Ghana's migration patterns in Ghana by visualizing the regional differences in net migration and the major migration flows from one region to another. Data for this analysis were collected from a population census and a household survey. A cross-sectional regression analysis was conducted to examine which factors explain inter-regional migration flows in the country. The regression model employed in the analysis is based on the gravity model of migration, which explains how the size of and the distance between two places affects the movement between them, and added the rate of urbanization as well as the average annual income per capita of both regions. The regression results reveal that the distance between two administrative regions in Ghana and the birth region's urbanization rate refrain people from migrating to other regions. In contrast, the urbanization rate and the average income of the destination region are positively associated with the inflow of migrants. Nevertheless, due to the data's limitations, the nexus between migration flows and regional disparities cannot be fully investigated. Therefore, this paper calls for more research to be done in this field.

Suggested Citation

  • Ginzinger, Felix Sebastian Veit, 2020. "A spatial analysis of the determinants of Inter-regional migration: evidence from Ghana," MPRA Paper 114945, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2022.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:114945
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/114945/1/MPRA_paper_114945.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lewer, Joshua J. & Van den Berg, Hendrik, 2008. "A gravity model of immigration," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 164-167, April.
    2. Raul Ramos, 2016. "Gravity models: A tool for migration analysis," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 239-239, February.
    3. John Arthur, 1991. "Interregional migration of labor in Ghana, West Africa: Determinants, consequences and policy intervention," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 89-103, December.
    4. Poot, Jacques & Alimi, Omoniyi & Cameron, Michael P. & Maré, David C., 2016. "The gravity model of migration: the successful comeback of an ageing superstar in regional science," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 36, pages 63-86.
    5. Molini,Vasco & Pavelesku,Dan & Ranzani,Marco, 2016. "Should I stay or should I go ? internal migration and household welfare in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7752, The World Bank.
    6. Charles Ackah & Denis Medvedev, 2012. "Internal migration in Ghana: determinants and welfare impacts," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(10), pages 764-784, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael P. Cameron, 2017. "Climate Change, Internal Migration and the Future Spatial Distribution of Population: A Case Study of New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 17/03, University of Waikato.
    2. Parker Elliott, 2020. "Migration Patterns in Eastern Europe and the World: A Gravity Approach," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 15(1), pages 66-79, June.
    3. Mohamed Arouri & Nguyen Viet Cuong, 2020. "Wealth inequality and inter-governorate migration: Evidence from Egypt," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 20(2), pages 119-139, April.
    4. Tadesse Soka Gignarta & ZhenZhong Guan & Dinkneh Gebre Borojo, 2020. "The Impacts of Economic Freedom and Institutional Quality on Migration from African Countries," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 88(3), pages 242-266, September.
    5. Iordache Mihaela & Matei Mihaela, 2020. "Explaining Recent Romanian Migration: A Modified Gravity Model with Panel Data," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 9(1), pages 46-64, August.
    6. Long Thanh Giang & Cuong Viet Nguyen & Hoa Quynh Nguyen, 2020. "The Impacts of Economic Growth and Governance on Migration: Evidence from Vietnam," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 1195-1229, September.
    7. Anqi Xu, 2023. "Spatial Patterns and Determinants of Inter-county Migration in California: A Multilevel Gravity Model Approach," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(3), pages 1-33, June.
    8. Michael P. Cameron & Jacques Poot, 2019. "The estimation and interpretation of coefficients in panel gravity models of migration," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 9-15, April.
    9. Antea Barišić & Mahdi Ghodsi & Michael Landesmann, 2024. "Technological Push and Pull Factors of Bilateral Migration," wiiw Working Papers 242, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    10. Robert M. Beyer & Jacob Schewe & Hermann Lotze-Campen, 2022. "Gravity models do not explain, and cannot predict, international migration dynamics," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Ivana Drazenovic & Marina Kunovac & Dominik Pripuzic, 2018. "Dynamics and determinants of emigration: the case of Croatia and the experience of new EU member states," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 42(4), pages 415-447.
    12. Ngoc Thi Minh Tran & Michael P. Cameron & Jacques Poot, 2017. "Local Institutional Quality and Return Migration: Evidence from Vietnam," Working Papers in Economics 17/10, University of Waikato.
    13. Leonardo Mazzoni & Massimo Riccaboni & Erik Stam, 2024. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Interregional Flows of Entrepreneurial Talent," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2426, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2024.
    14. Michael P. Cameron & Jacques Poot, 2024. "Modelling and Forecasting Interregional Migration for Multiregional Population Projections," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-37, August.
    15. Mohammad Azeem Khan & Zeenat Fatima & Sumbul Fatima, 2023. "Revisiting the Gravity Model of Migration," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 58(2), pages 329-349, May.
    16. María Gutiérrez-Portilla & Adolfo Maza & María Hierro, 2018. "Foreigners versus natives in Spain: different migration patterns? Any changes in the aftermath of the crisis?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(1), pages 139-159, July.
    17. Laila Touhami Morghem & Khawlah Ali Abdalla Spetan, 2020. "Determinants of International Migration: An Applied Study on Selected Arab Countries (1995-2017)," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(2), pages 6-19.
    18. Askarov, Zohid & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2015. "Spatial aid spillovers during transition," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 79-95.
    19. A. James Wynne & Chandrashekar Challa & John Palesis & Bernie Farkas, 2015. "A Conceptual Model: Impact Of Usage Of Social Media Tools To Enhance Project Management Success," Portuguese Journal of Management Studies, ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, vol. 0(2), pages 55-72.
    20. Junaid Ahmed & Mazhar Mughal & Inmaculada Martínez‐Zarzoso, 2021. "Sending money home: Transaction cost and remittances to developing countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 2433-2459, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inter-regional migration; urbanization; spatial analysis; gravity model of migration; Ghana;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:114945. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.