Journal of Population Research : JPR18-1

ISSN 1443-2447

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JPR18-1

Volume 18, Number 1, May 2001

	Editor' Note	iii PDF
Martin Bell	Presidential Address Understanding Circulation in Australia	1-18 PDF
John Stillwell, Martin Bell, Marcus Blake, Oliver Duke-Williams and Phil Rees	Net Migration and Migration Effectiveness: A Comparison Between Australia and the United Kingdom, 1976-96 Part 2: Age-related migration patterns	19-39 PDF
Tania Ford	The Social Effect of Population Growth in the Periurban Region: The Case of Adelaide	40-51 PDF
Geoff Childs	Old-Age Security, Religious Celibacy, and Aggregate Fertility in a Tibetan Population	52-67 PDF
Siew-Ean Khoo and Zhongwei Zhao	Research Note A decomposition of immigrant divorce rates in Australia	68-77 PDF
	Book Reviews	78-88 PDF

Abstracts

UNDERSTANDING CIRCULATION IN AUSTRALIA

Martin Bell, The University of Queensland

Progress in the nascent field of inquiry concerned with understanding circulation in developed countries requires a balance between individual and aggregate modes of explanation. The sparsity and fragmentation of current studies is traced to the dearth of appropriate data sources and the complexity of circular moves, reflecting the integral connections between data, method and theory in migration research. It is argued that circulation, like permanent migration, can be divided into production- and consumption-related categories, but that measurement of circulation is complicated by three additional features: variable duration, repetition and seasonality. Four dimensions of population movement are identified: intensity of circular migration, movement distances, patterns of redistribution and migration networks. Census and survey data are used to quantify these dimensions.

NET MIGRATION AND MIGRATION EFFECTIVENESS: A COMPARISON BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1976-96
PART 2: AGE-RELATED MIGRATION PATTERNS

John Stillwell, University of Leeds
Martin Bell, University of Adelaide
Marcus Blake, University of Adelaide
Oliver Duke-Williams, University of Leeds
Phil Rees, University of Leeds

This paper explores the impact of net migration in Australia and the United Kingdom using measures of migration effectiveness computed from period-age migration data for four consecutive five-year periods. Results reported in Part 1 of this paper (Stillwell et al. 2000) suggest that while the overall effectiveness of net migration at the scale of city regions has declined over the twenty-year period in both countries, important geographical variations are evident. Part 2 considers how patterns of migration effectiveness vary by age and presents a single classification of all the city regions on the basis of age-specific effectiveness. More detailed analysis includes spatial patterns for particular age groups and net migration profiles of selected regions. Cohort effects are shown to be important for explaining changes between time periods in these regions.

THE SOCIAL EFFECT OF POPULATION GROWTH IN THE PERIURBAN REGION: THE CASE OF ADELAIDE

Tania Ford, Heriot-Watt University

The forces driving periurban population growth and change vary, resulting in different scales of periurban development, and local differences will undoubtedly modify the social effect of population growth in the periurban zone. The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of recent population growth on the social structure of periurban communities. Drawing on results from surveys of migration to three study areas in the periurban region of Adelaide (South Australia), the paper examines the perceptions of recent migrants as distinct from the established residents, focusing on three key aspects associated with population growth: social integration, satisfaction and identification with the local area and local commitment.

OLD-AGE SECURITY, RELIGIOUS CELIBACY, AND AGGREGATE FERTILITY IN A TIBETAN POPULATION

Geoff Childs, The Australian National University

Using the family system as a framework, this study investigates the connection between old-age security concerns and aggregate fertility in Sama and Lho, two ethnically Tibetan villages of highland Nepal. The microdemographic approach reveals a difference in family systems between the two villages that results in Sama having a significantly lower level of fertility than Lho. The key difference lies in the practice of Sama's (but not Lho's) householders of designating a daughter to be a nun, a strategy meant to retain female labour within the household and thereby guarantee a caretaker in old age. Although the effect of this practice on individual fertility is unclear, the comparison with Lho reveals how it sharply curtails aggregate fertility by preventing nearly one in five women from marrying. In this case the motivation to ensure old-age security acts as an unintentional preventive check on population growth. Comparisons with other societies illustrate how the population of Sama combines elements of both the historical European and Asian demographic experiences.

A DECOMPOSITION OF IMMIGRANT DIVORCE RATES IN AUSTRALIA

Siew-Ean Khoo, The Australian National University
Zhongwei Zhao, University of Cambridge

Crude divorce rates of overseas-born Australians by birthplace are not comparable because different birthplace groups have different age structures and marriage patterns that affect the rates. This paper decomposes the crude rates into components due to the effects of age structure, marriage patterns and the divorce rate of married men and women. This allows for a better comparison of the level of divorce by birthplace. The range in the standardized divorce rates by birthplace is smaller than that indicated by the crude rates. Nonetheless, there remains considerable variation in immigrant divorce rates in Australia.