TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENTS AND RURAL OUTMIGRATION IN COLOMBIA

This paper explores the hypothesis that transport improvements increase rural employment in developing nations by raising farm incomes and making amenities more accessible in the countryside. Using an econometric model applied to Colombian data, the effects are measured by examining the interrelationships among bus service, location, family income and rural outmigration. Most planners believe that migration is inversely related to travel time so that transportation improvements in rural areas accelerate outmigration by reducing the costs of moving to cities. In this study several other ways, besides changes in moving costs, are examined in which distance could affect rural outmigration. First, the distance effects on access to urban amenities are taken into account. The relationships between migration flows and regional incomes are then considered. Another special feature is the base used to measure migration rate in the sending region rather than the region receiving the flow. Some support is found for the hypothesis that migration increases with distance from cities in areas where bus service is infrequent. However the results do not conclusively show whether transportation improvements will reduce rural outmigration.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Chicago Press

  1427 E. 60th Street
  Chicago, IL  United States  60637-2954
• Authors:
  • Udall, A T
• Publication Date: 1981-4

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 613-629
• Serial:
  • ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURAL CHANGE
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue Number: 3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Demographics; Developing countries; Employment; Level of service; Mathematical models; Regional development; Rural areas; Transportation planning
• Old TRIS Terms: Bus services
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00384908
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 30 1984 12:00AM