American Geographical Society

Migration and Regional Development in the United States: 1950-1960 by Paul J. SchwindReview by: Richard S. Thoman and Peter B. CorbinGeographical Review, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Oct., 1972), pp. 593-595Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/213276 .

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS 593

lously sets forth various schemes for classifying towns-including those of Tay- lor, Houston, Mumford, Harris, Nelson, and Alexandersson-and the succeeding six chapters. Little in the classification implied by these vaguely titled chapters ("Inland Trading Centres," "Ports," and so on) resembles the hard-won princi- ples enunciated by Chapter 8's distinguished cast of characters.

Lest this sound terribly nihilistic, I must commend the author for the con- cern shown the student in the Introduction and in a brief final chapter on field work. In them he attempts to explain his premises and to describe his sources and tools for research. The charge to the student is to get into the field to gather material first hand and to map his subject systematically. The material between these two chapters, some 300 pages of secondary and tertiary information on rural and urban settlements, could only make the student wonder why the author took such pains to avoid swallowing his own prescription.-SHERWIN H. COOPER

MIGRATION AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: 1950-1960. By PAUL J. SCHWIND. x and 170 pp.; maps, bibliogr. The University of Chicago, Department of Geography, Research Paper No. 133. Chicago, 1971. $4.50. 9 x 6 inches.

To anyone seriously concerned with regional planning and development, the title of this monograph stimulates immediate interest, which is increased by re- view of its Table of Contents: Central Terms and Concepts; The Spatial Structure of Development and Growth; The Spatial Structure of Migration Behavior; De- velopment and Growth in the United States, 1950-1960; Migration in the United States, 1955-1960; Synthesis and Prospect. Certainly no other topics are closer to the central theme of modern regional development. At a time of general appeal for more relevance of academic to pragmatic effort, the book can appropriately be assessed through two filters: its worth as a research document and its value in

providing adequate background and assistance for the decision-making process. In brief, Schwind has aggregated the 509 State Economic Areas of the United

States into two sets of larger regions-225 "consolidated commuting regions" and 133 "consolidated migration regions." Through factor analysis of selected census indexes, he has isolated the outstanding variables of the State Economic Areas in 1960, and of both the consolidated commuting regions and the con- solidated migration regions for the decade 1950-1960. He has then developed a

general model of migration and has attempted to discover a possible association between migration and regional amenities. Three kinds of net flow patterns are identified: pronounced long-distance shifts from both metropolitan and non- metropolitan regions to southern California and to southern Florida; medium- distance shifts from rural hinterlands to middle-sized metropolises; and short- distance shifts from the largest megapolitan areas to their exurban fringes.

The results are well summarized by the author: "for two sets of nodal regions in the United States during the 1950-1960 decade, (1) a high degree of order existed in the spatial structure of their social and economic characteristics, (2) the

gross volumes of migration between the regions were highly predictable from population size and intervening distance, and (3) the net direction of migration between the regions was rather poorly explained by the kinds of socio-economic variables which are traditional in models of migration."

Three critical points may be raised. These pertain to the regional taxonomy,

GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS 593

lously sets forth various schemes for classifying towns-including those of Tay- lor, Houston, Mumford, Harris, Nelson, and Alexandersson-and the succeeding six chapters. Little in the classification implied by these vaguely titled chapters ("Inland Trading Centres," "Ports," and so on) resembles the hard-won princi- ples enunciated by Chapter 8's distinguished cast of characters.

Lest this sound terribly nihilistic, I must commend the author for the con- cern shown the student in the Introduction and in a brief final chapter on field work. In them he attempts to explain his premises and to describe his sources and tools for research. The charge to the student is to get into the field to gather material first hand and to map his subject systematically. The material between these two chapters, some 300 pages of secondary and tertiary information on rural and urban settlements, could only make the student wonder why the author took such pains to avoid swallowing his own prescription.-SHERWIN H. COOPER

MIGRATION AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: 1950-1960. By PAUL J. SCHWIND. x and 170 pp.; maps, bibliogr. The University of Chicago, Department of Geography, Research Paper No. 133. Chicago, 1971. $4.50. 9 x 6 inches.

To anyone seriously concerned with regional planning and development, the title of this monograph stimulates immediate interest, which is increased by re- view of its Table of Contents: Central Terms and Concepts; The Spatial Structure of Development and Growth; The Spatial Structure of Migration Behavior; De- velopment and Growth in the United States, 1950-1960; Migration in the United States, 1955-1960; Synthesis and Prospect. Certainly no other topics are closer to the central theme of modern regional development. At a time of general appeal for more relevance of academic to pragmatic effort, the book can appropriately be assessed through two filters: its worth as a research document and its value in

providing adequate background and assistance for the decision-making process. In brief, Schwind has aggregated the 509 State Economic Areas of the United

States into two sets of larger regions-225 "consolidated commuting regions" and 133 "consolidated migration regions." Through factor analysis of selected census indexes, he has isolated the outstanding variables of the State Economic Areas in 1960, and of both the consolidated commuting regions and the con- solidated migration regions for the decade 1950-1960. He has then developed a

general model of migration and has attempted to discover a possible association between migration and regional amenities. Three kinds of net flow patterns are identified: pronounced long-distance shifts from both metropolitan and non- metropolitan regions to southern California and to southern Florida; medium- distance shifts from rural hinterlands to middle-sized metropolises; and short- distance shifts from the largest megapolitan areas to their exurban fringes.

The results are well summarized by the author: "for two sets of nodal regions in the United States during the 1950-1960 decade, (1) a high degree of order existed in the spatial structure of their social and economic characteristics, (2) the

gross volumes of migration between the regions were highly predictable from population size and intervening distance, and (3) the net direction of migration between the regions was rather poorly explained by the kinds of socio-economic variables which are traditional in models of migration."

Three critical points may be raised. These pertain to the regional taxonomy,

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594 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the adequacy of the selected indicators or variables to explain regional amenities and development (author's definition), and the treatment of the migration mod- els. The results of such an effort as this depend appreciably on the geographic matrix into which the original data are cast. Schwind has delimited the consoli- dated commuting region to subsume residential shifts within metropolitan labor markets, and the consolidated migration region to subsume not only short dis- tances but also medium distances plus rural-urban migration. Both delimitations were done qualitatively and although Schwind's procedure is not necessarily erroneous, a different delimitation might have produced rather different results.

A second criticism concerns the adequacy of census materials as indicators of a full range of motivation for migration or of regional amenities. The author has suggested, quite logically, that a substantial part of the persons who migrate are not in the labor force, and that they are less influenced by economic reasons for moving than are those who are working. The inclusion of a greater range of

"quality of life" variables, including climatic indicators, would have made the assessment of regional amenities more meaningful.

The third criticism concerns the author's treatment of basic migration models. The most commonly used models of migration are variants of either the inter-

vening opportunities model or the gravity model. This study employs a multiple regression form of the gravity model for estimating interregional migration. How- ever, Schwind believes that the gravity and intervening opportunities model are the same, and hurriedly dispatches the opportunities model with the comment that "Stouffer's 'opportunities' model is essentially the gravity model, in which sums of inmigrants serve as both an attractive force at destinations and as a

diverting force at intervening places." We are surprised that a major study of

migration should reveal so little understanding of the models, both by Schwind and by the "numerous persons [who] have contributed both materially and

spiritually to the completion of this study." The statement on the "opportunities" model is not true, and we feel it should

be corrected, especially since it tends to inhibit what may prove to be a signal contribution by Stouffer to problems of migration analysis. Let us cite in this connection a paper by John Kissin and Peter Corbin presented to the meeting of the Regional Science Association in Rome in September, 1970, entitled "Some Notes on Intervening Opportunities and Related Models." This paper shows that the two models predict very different trip volumes from a given origin to a

given destination. It also shows that although there may be a superficial similarity between the two models and that something like a gravity model can be derived from an intervening opportunities model where densities are uniform, the two models are in fact formally incompatible. We suggest that Schwind apply both the opportunities model, or some variant thereof, and his gravity formulation to a single test case on migration flows and compare the results.

Both reviewers have been actively engaged in policy to such a degree as to

appreciate clearly that actual decisions on regional matters allow little room for second thoughts. Therefore we urge that in research such as Schwind's, which

may carry major policy implications, more painstaking efforts be made to con- sider the viewpoint of the decision maker, whether in definition of terms, ap- proach, or methodology. We take issue with the author that "development is a state or level reached by a region at some point in time with respect to the vari-

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

ables used to describe the region." Surely, in an age when scholars are interested in scientific interpretation and application, development can mean more than this. We maintain that development implies, or should imply, planned and im- plemented change.

Although a research effort of this magnitude, based on existing census materi- als, is valuable as background information, it provides little in the way of spe- cific documentation for actual decision making. As much through footnote cita- tions and peripheral commentary as in the main body of the text, we learn that the net direction of aggregate population movement may not be as strongly af- fected by the economic characteristics of the regions as had been previously thought, and that a more careful definition of aspects of overall environmental quality to which potential migrants may respond, positively or negatively, is urgently needed. However, what, specifically, are those aspects? How do we ar- rive, specificially, at a better understanding of perception of the environment, of motivation for migration, and of channels of information? If appropriate indi- cators to answer these and related questions cannot be incorporated into census materials and results obtained through such standardized surveys, ways should be sought to develop an independent search. The authors of research such as is reviewed here could help to close the gap between research and policy making if occasionally they would consider the implications for policy in their own re- search. However, except for the qualifications noted, we commend the author for an excellent effort.-RICHARD S. THOMAN and PETER B. CORBIN

PLEISTOCENE AND RECENT ENVIRONMENTS OF THE CENTRAL GREAT PLAINS. Edited by WAKEFIELD DORT, JR., and J. KNOX JONES, JR. x and 433 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogrs. The University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Manhattan, and Wichita, 1970. $25.00. lo? x 6/4 inches.

The region known as the Great Plains, the vast open country lying principally west of the Mississippi and extending to the Rocky Mountains between southern Canada and northern Mexico, is for the most part a grassland. Although the re- gion was only partly invaded by glaciers, it was subject to both glacial and non- glacial environmental fluctuations over the millions of years of the Pleistocene and Recent, as ice sheets advanced and withdrew on the Canadian Shield and in the northern United States. The pluvial lakes of the Llano Estacado of Texas, some of them as much as ioo square miles in extent, Missouri River deposits of loess, which in places are more than 6o feet thick, and the fossil-bearing beds of Kansas and Oklahoma, which contain a record of Illinoian glacial and Sangamon interglacial vegetation, are all part of the testimony of events and environmental changes that marked the Quaternary calendar.

In October, 1968, biologists, anthropologists, and earth scientists interested in the central part of this region met in a two-day symposium at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, to discuss the Pleistocene and Recent environments. The present volume is the outcome of this meeting, which was attended by more than 500 persons. Twenty-three papers contributed by thirty authors are pre- sented under four headings: earth sciences and climate, anthropology, botany, and zoology. The papers provide a fresh look at old data, together with a critical examination of new evidence. They represent scholarly achievement in the think- ing and interpretation of what has taken place in the Great Plains.

ables used to describe the region." Surely, in an age when scholars are interested in scientific interpretation and application, development can mean more than this. We maintain that development implies, or should imply, planned and im- plemented change.

Although a research effort of this magnitude, based on existing census materi- als, is valuable as background information, it provides little in the way of spe- cific documentation for actual decision making. As much through footnote cita- tions and peripheral commentary as in the main body of the text, we learn that the net direction of aggregate population movement may not be as strongly af- fected by the economic characteristics of the regions as had been previously thought, and that a more careful definition of aspects of overall environmental quality to which potential migrants may respond, positively or negatively, is urgently needed. However, what, specifically, are those aspects? How do we ar- rive, specificially, at a better understanding of perception of the environment, of motivation for migration, and of channels of information? If appropriate indi- cators to answer these and related questions cannot be incorporated into census materials and results obtained through such standardized surveys, ways should be sought to develop an independent search. The authors of research such as is reviewed here could help to close the gap between research and policy making if occasionally they would consider the implications for policy in their own re- search. However, except for the qualifications noted, we commend the author for an excellent effort.-RICHARD S. THOMAN and PETER B. CORBIN

PLEISTOCENE AND RECENT ENVIRONMENTS OF THE CENTRAL GREAT PLAINS. Edited by WAKEFIELD DORT, JR., and J. KNOX JONES, JR. x and 433 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogrs. The University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Manhattan, and Wichita, 1970. $25.00. lo? x 6/4 inches.

The region known as the Great Plains, the vast open country lying principally west of the Mississippi and extending to the Rocky Mountains between southern Canada and northern Mexico, is for the most part a grassland. Although the re- gion was only partly invaded by glaciers, it was subject to both glacial and non- glacial environmental fluctuations over the millions of years of the Pleistocene and Recent, as ice sheets advanced and withdrew on the Canadian Shield and in the northern United States. The pluvial lakes of the Llano Estacado of Texas, some of them as much as ioo square miles in extent, Missouri River deposits of loess, which in places are more than 6o feet thick, and the fossil-bearing beds of Kansas and Oklahoma, which contain a record of Illinoian glacial and Sangamon interglacial vegetation, are all part of the testimony of events and environmental changes that marked the Quaternary calendar.

In October, 1968, biologists, anthropologists, and earth scientists interested in the central part of this region met in a two-day symposium at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, to discuss the Pleistocene and Recent environments. The present volume is the outcome of this meeting, which was attended by more than 500 persons. Twenty-three papers contributed by thirty authors are pre- sented under four headings: earth sciences and climate, anthropology, botany, and zoology. The papers provide a fresh look at old data, together with a critical examination of new evidence. They represent scholarly achievement in the think- ing and interpretation of what has taken place in the Great Plains.

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