District-level spatial analysis of migration flows in Ghana: determinants and implications for policy

Type Journal Article - Regional Science Policy & Practice
Title District-level spatial analysis of migration flows in Ghana: determinants and implications for policy
Author(s)
Volume 3
Issue 2
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2011
Page numbers 87-100
URL http://www.zef.de/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/zef_dp/ZEF_DP_144.pdf
Abstract
This study investigates the determinants of inter-district migration flows over the 1995–2000 period in Ghana. A combination of socio-economic, natural and spatial ‘district-level’ attributes are considered as potential variables explaining the direction of migration flows. The ‘in’, ‘out’ and ‘net’ migration models are employed within the context of the gravity model. Results in the three models consistently show that people move out of districts with less employment. While shorter distance to roads encourages out-migration, districts with better water access and higher cropland per capita seem to attract migrants. Generally, people move out of predominantly agrarian districts to relatively more urbanized districts. The findings also suggest additional effects of inter-annual rainfall change on net migration in agrarian communities in Ghana.

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