Abstract
Over the past several decades, the environmental awareness and concern of the American public has greatly increased. This concern is reflected, for example, in public opinion polls, participation in curbside recycling programs and community mobilization against the siting of environmentally-hazardous facilities. This study examines the possibility that such concern is also reflected by internal migration patterns. More specifically, this research considers the relationship between county-level environmental characteristics and in- and outmigration streams. The results suggest that counties with environmental hazards such as air and water pollution, hazardous waste and Superfund sites do not lose residents at greater rates than areas without such hazards. However, areas with such risks gain relatively fewer new residents.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Adler, R. W., Landman, J.C., & Cameron, D.M. (1993). The Clean Water Act: 20 years later. Washington DC: Island Press.
Albrecht, D.E. & Hwang, S.S. (1991). Neighborhood selection and residential segregation. Sociological Inquiry, 61(2), 199-218.
Beale, C.L. (1975). The revival of population growth in nonmetropolitan America. Bulletin ERS-605. Economic Development Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. As reprinted in Morrison, P.A. (Ed.). (1990). A Taste of the Country: A Collection of Calvin Beale's Writings. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Brown, P. & Mikkelsen, E. (1990). No safe place: Toxic waste, leukemia, and community action. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bullard, R. D. & Wright, B.H. (1992). The quest for environmental equity: Mobilizing the black community for social change. In Dunlop, R.E. & Mertig, A.G. (Eds.). American Environmentalism: The Environmental Movement 1970–1990, pp. 39-50. Washington DC: Tyler and Francis.
Chesire, P. & Sheppard, S. (1995). On the price of land and the value of amenities. Economica, 62, 247-267.
Clark, D.E. & Nieves, L.A. (1994). An interregional hedonic analysis of noxious facility impacts on local wages and property values. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 27, 235-253.
Degler, S.E. (1971). Federal pollution control programs: Water air, and solid wastes. Washington DC: The Bureau of National Affairs.
Dunlap, R.E. (1991). Public opinion in the 1980s: Clear consensus, ambiguous commitment. Environment, 33(8), 10-15, 32–37.
Dunlap, R.E. (1992). Trends in public opinion toward environmental issues: 1965–1990. In Dunlap, R.E. & Mertig, A.G. (Eds.). American Environmentalism: The U.S. Environmental Movement, 1970–1990, pp. 89-116. Washington DC: Taylor and Francis.
Dunlap, R.E. & Mertig, A.G. (1992). The evolution of the U.S. environmental movement from 1970 to 1990: An overview. In R.E. Dunlap & Mertig, A.G. (Eds.) American Environmentalism: The U.S. Environmental Movement, 1970–1990 (pp. 1-10). Washington DC: Taylor and Francis.
Dunlap, R.E. & Scarce, R. (1991). The polls-poll trends: Environmental problems and protection. Public Opinion Quarterly, 55, 651-672.
Elgin, Duane, Logothetti, Thomas L., & Cox, Sue (1974). City size and the quality of life. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.
Environmental Protection Agency. (February 1993). Solid waste and emergency response (OS-312). National Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report: Executive Summary. EPA530-S-92-027.
Fagan, M. & Longino Jr., C.F. (1993). Migrating retirees: A Source for economic development. Economic Development Quarterly, 7(1), 98-106.
Fishcoff, Baruch, Svenson, O. & Slovic, P. (1987). Active responses to environmental hazards: Perceptions and decision-making. In D. Stokols and I. Altman (Eds.). Handbook of Environmental Psychology. Vol. 2. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Fuguitt, G.V. (1985). The nonmetropolitan population turnaround. Annual Review of Sociology. 11, 259-80.
Fuguitt, G.V., Heberlein, T.A., & Rathbun, P.R. (1991). Migration consequences for household energy consumption in a nonmetropolitan recreation-retirement area. Rural Sociology, 56(1), 56-69.
General Accounting Office (GAO). (1983). Siting of hazardous waste landfills and their correlation with racial and economic status of surrounding communities. Washington, DC.
Gober, P. (1993). Americans on the move. Population Bulletin, 48(3).
Hsieh, C.T. & Liu, B.C. (1983). The pursuance of better quality of life: In the long run, better quality of social life is the most important factor in migration. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 42(4), 431-440.
Johnson, K.M. (1993). Demographic change in nonmetropolitan America, 1980 to 1990. Rural Sociology, 58(3), 347-365.
Johnson, K.M. & Beale, C.L. (1994). The recent revival of widespread population growth in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States. Rural Sociology, 59(4), 655-667.
Long, L. H. (1988). Migration and residential mobility in the United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Massey, D. S. & Fong, E. (1990). Segregation and neighborhood quality: Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in the San Francisco Metropolitan Area. Social Forces, 69(1), 15-32.
McAuley, W. J. & Nutty, C.L. (1982). Residential Preferences and Moving Behavior: A Family Life-Cycle Analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, May, 301-309.
Moeller, D.W. (1992). Environmental health. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Mohai, P. & Bunyan B. (1992a). Environmental racism: Reviewing the evidence. In Bryant, B. and Mohai, P. (Eds.). Race and the incidence of environmental hazards: A time for discourse, pp. 163-76. Boulder: Westview.
Mohai, P. & Bunyan, B. (1992b). Race, poverty and the environment: The disadvantaged face greater risks. EPA Journal 18,1, 6-8.
Nord, M., Luloff, A.E. & Jensen, L. (1995). Migration and the spatial concentration of poverty. Rural Sociology, 60(3), 399-415.
Redmond, J. C., Cook, J.C. & Hoffman, A.A.J. (Eds.). (1971). Clearing the air: The impact of the Clean Air Act on technology. New York, NY: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
Schachter, J. & Althaus, P.G. (1982). Neighborhood quality and climate as factors in U.S. net migration patterns, 1974–1976. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 41(4), 387-399.
Shryock, H. S., Jacob, S. S. & Associates. (1976). The methods and materials of demography. San Diego: Academic Press.
South, S. J. & Deane, G.D. (1993). Race and residential mobility: Individual determinants and structural constraints. Social Forces, 72(1), 147-167.
StataCorp (1997). Stata statistical software: Reference manuals: Release 5.0. College Station, TX: Stata Press.
Tiebout, C.M. (1956). A pure theory of local expenditures. Journal of Political Economy, 64, 416-424.
Wagner, T. P. (1990). Hazardous waste identification and classification manual. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Wolpert, J (1966). Migration as an adjustment to environmental stress. Journal of Social Issues, 22(4), 92-102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hunter, L.M. The Association Between Environmental Risk and Internal Migration Flows. Population and Environment 19, 247–277 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024644003699
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024644003699