Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Mathematical Economics

First Advisor

Dr. Chadwick Curtis

Second Advisor

Dr. Joanna Wares

Abstract

Internal migration in the US has been declining since the 1990s and research has mostly focused on labor market dynamics and aging population to explain the migration trends. This paper analyzes migration patterns of foreign-born groups in the US from 2000 to 2019. Along with the migration determinants such as education and employment, the paper focuses on population concentration as a factor that shapes foreign-born decisions to relocate in the US. Population concertation is defined to be a measure of how geographically concentrated each foreign-born group is across the US. I find that the likelihood of migrating to another state decreases with higher population concentration of the same foreign-born group at the current state of residence. I further examine what determines population concentration and emphasize on the role of risk aversion. Empirical analysis shows that higher risk aversion leads to higher population concentration in the current state of residence. A theoretical model of migration is built to demonstrate their relationship, and the results show the two variables are interrelated.

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