1. Theories of Migration
Push and Pull Factors

2. Raventein’s Laws of Migration (1885)
Most migration is over a short distance.
Migration occurs in a series of steps
Long-distance migrants usually move to centers of economic opportunities (urban areas)
Each migration produces a movement in the opposite direction, or counter stream (although not necessarily of the same volume).

3. Raventein’s Laws of Migration (1885)
People in rural areas migrate more than people in cities.
Men migrate over longer distances than women.
Most migrants are young adult males.
Cities grow more by migration than by natural increase.
Migration increases with economic development.
Migration is mostly due to economic causes.

4. Migration Transition Wilber Zelinsky
Populations migrate in connection with transitions between the stages of the Demographic Transition Model
A country in stage 2 has rapid population growth...as it moves from stage 2 to stage 3 part of the population loss is migration.
Countries in stage 3 or stage 4 tend to see migration within the country rather than out of the country

5. Human Capital Model Larry Sjaastad - 1962
Psychological and economic costs and benefits are considered before people make a major move
Migration rates drop as people age since personal wealth is accumulated over time and the potential benefit of moving decreases with increased age

6. Life Course Model
Migration is impacted by major turning points in a person's’ life such as college, employment, marriage, having children, and retirement
Single people are more likely to move
The larger the family the less likely you are to move