Year: 2009
Type: dissertation
Abstract: A methodology is developed to estimate comparable international migration \nflows between\na set of countries. International migration \nflow data may be missing, reported by\nthe sending country, reported by the receiving country or reported by both the sending and\nreceiving countries. For the last situation, reported counts rarely match due to differences\nin defnitions and data collection systems. In this thesis, reported counts are harmonized\nusing correction factors estimated from a constrained optimization procedure. Factors are\napplied to scale data known to be of a reliable standard, creating an incomplete migration\n\nflow table of harmonized values. Cells for which no reliable reported \nflows exist are\nthen estimated from a negative binomial regression model fitted using the Expectation-\nMaximization (EM) type algorithm. Covariate information for this model is drawn from\ninternational migration theory. Finally, measures of precision for all missing cell estimates\nare derived using the Supplemented EM algorithm. Recent data on international migration\nbetween countries in Europe are used to illustrate the methodology. The results\nrepresent a complete table of comparable \nows that can be used by regional policy makers\nand social scientist alike to better understand population behaviour and change.
Author: Guy Abel
Language: English
Subfield: Statistics and Probability
Field: Mathematics
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W96648988