title: Migration as a consumption activity.
abstract: "While a generalized utility maximization approach to migration decisionmaking is not innovative, the principal extensions of this paper involve the search for an instrument capable of measuring changes in utility levels consistent with all preferences (i.e., with all forms of utility functions), requiring only data on observed behaviour. Our approach is to construct a Location-Specific Utility Index (LSUI), whose component variables serve as proxies for the arguments in [U.S.]  households' utility functions.... The testable hypothesis is formulated as follows: Assuming constant household preferences and expansion of the household's feasible set over time, the household's utility level is greater following the migration decision.... The results are compared with the households' migration decisions. The empirical evidence shows that migration may reasonably be modelled as a consumption activity by households to maximize utility." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Delorme
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kamerschen
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D001519:Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D004467:Economics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005191:Family Characteristics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009656:North America; D011153:Population; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012106:Research; D014481:United States
keywords: Americas; Behavior; Consumption; Decision Making; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Economic Factors; Family And Household; Households; Macroeconomic Factors; Migration, Internal; Migration--determinants; Models, Theoretical; North America; Northern America; Population; Population Dynamics; Research Methodology; United States