Faculty Publications

A Zero-Inflated Poisson Model Of Migration Frequency

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

International Regional Science Review

Volume

19

Issue

3

First Page

211

Last Page

222

Abstract

This paper shows that the frequency of migration can be best modeled by a zero-inflated Poisson process, because it takes into account the overwhelming presence of zeros (nonmigrants) in the data. A failure to do so can cause the coefficients to be biased and also result in poor prediction. The major finding is that by using a zero-inflated process, the performance of the model in predicting migration behavior is substantially improved. In addition, frequent movers tend to be white, nonunionized. and tend to have fewer children, less stable marriages, and more frequent occupational changes.

Department

Department of Economics

Original Publication Date

1-1-1996

DOI of published version

10.1177/016001769601900302

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