Transcript Charles_Edwards_Bell

The Geography of Work-Related
Temporary Mobility in Australia
Presentation to the Third International Population
Geographies Conference
Liverpool, UK
19th-21st June 2006
Elin Charles-Edwards
Martin Bell
Outline
•Background;
•Defining temporary mobility;
•Past research;
•Data;
•The geography of work-related temporary mobility;
• Migration intensity;
• Spatial focusing;
• Migration impact;
• Circuits of mobility;
•Conclusion
Background
• Australian Research Council Discovery Grant - Understanding Circulation in
Australia.
• Dramatic rise in the incidence of temporary population mobility over the 20th
Century.
• In Australia – 6.4 % increase in the number of temporary moves between
1996-2001 (ABS 1996, 2001).
• Transformation in the composition and characteristics of temporary mobility
in the developed world e.g. rise in mass tourism; decline in seasonal
agricultural labour.
• No commensurate increase in research on the phenomenon.
Defining temporary mobility
• Mobility is continuous through space and time
spatial and temporal limits to facilitate analysis;
necessary to ascribe
• Defined as those moves longer than one night, but less than one year, in
duration (c.f. diurnal movements and permanent migration respectively)
Production-related
Business travel
Long-distance commuting
Fly-in Fly out mining
Seasonal work
Consumption-related
Conferences and
Convention
Workshops
Family visits
Excursions
Vacations
Seasonal migration
Study and residential
courses
Hospitalisation
Incarceration
Past Research
• Research into work-related temporary mobility has focused on the mobility of
particular occupational groups:
•Long distance business commuters (Green 1999);
•Fly-in Fly-out miners (Gilles et al 1993);
•Seasonal agricultural labourers (Laut 1967; Hanson and Bell
forthcoming);
•Trans-national peripatetic professionals (Amit 2002).
• These movers represent only a fraction of all work-related moves
need for studies summarizing the overall dimensions and characteristics of
work-related temporary mobility.
Research Approach
Key aspects for scholars interested in exploring work-related temporary at an
aggregate level:
1. Composition and characteristics (e.g. characteristics of movers;
function of mobility);
2. Temporal framework of this mobility (e.g. duration, timing and
seasonal pattern of mobility);
3. Spatiality of temporary mobility (e.g. spatial focusing; impact; and
circuits of mobility).
This research adopts an explicitly geographical approach to the study of
work-related temporary mobility in Australia
Data
1. Census
• Conducted on a de facto basis;
• Cross-tabulation with the Journey to Work variable produces a proxy
measure of work-related movers;
Limitations
• Captures mobility only 1 night every five years- difficult to generalise
results;
• Instantaneous data precludes analysis of temporal dimensions of
mobility ( incl. circuits);
2. National Visitor Survey
• Continuous sample~80 000 persons per annum;
• Variables include: destination, purpose; duration; timing of trip;
• Unit Record data allows circuits of work-related travel to be identified;
Limitations
• Designed for tourist industry
under-enumeration of particular
groups of movers.
Intensity
The overall level work-related temporary mobility in the system
• Crude Mobility Rate- measure of the total number of moves as a proportion
of the population at risk of moving.
Australia
Census (2001)
Work-related
Work-related (%)
Total
Total (%)
UK
NVS (2001)
UKTS (2001)
245,000
15, 000,000
23,000,000
1.3
96 per 100
49 per 100
806, 300
4.3
• Suggests that work-related temporary mobility in Australia is high by
international standards;
• Also reflects the geographic size of Australia – prohibits diurnal moves.
Spatial Focusing
Degree to which flows are concentrated to, or from, a small number of
destinations within a system
• Coefficient of Variation: standard deviation divided by the mean of a set of
inter-regional flows (0= equality)
Out- flows
In-flows
System
All temporary mobility
1.98
2.29
4.27
Work-related
2.31
2.79
5.10
Consumption-related
1.98
2.17
4.15
•More focused than consumption-related mobility;
•Concentrated on smaller number of regions;
•High spatial focusing of inflows suggests that a few large source regions
dominant the system of work-related temporary mobility in Australia.
Impact
The effectiveness of work-related temporary mobility at redistributing the
population.
• Migration Effectiveness Index provides a measure of the system wide
impact;
Region
Geographical unit
Australia
Statistical Division
Australia
States
NSW
No. of units
MEI
58
18.98
8
8.90
Statistical Division
12
12.46
Victoria
Statistical Division
11
10.82
Queensland
Statistical Division
11
20.62
SA
Statistical Division
7
27.27
WA
Statistical Division
9
50.77
Tasmania
Statistical Division
4
4.49
Capital Cities
Capital Cities
8
7.83
Circuits
Sequential pattern of movement.
• In contrast to permanent migration, temporary moves often involve stops at
multiple destinations;
• 11.0 percent of business trips involve stops at multiple destinations
(NVS)
• Cross-sectional data is unable to capture these circuits of mobility
remain one of the most poorly understood dimensions of temporary mobility;
• Single displacement
• Absolute Flows;
• Net Flows;
• Net Migration Probabilities (Net flows as a proportion of the
population at risk of moving);
•Multiple displacement
• No established methodology to capture patterns of mobility.
Single displacement: Absolute Flows
Absolute Flows
1000 - 1500
1500 - 2000
2000 - 2500
2500 - 3000
3000 - 3500
Single displacement: Net flows
Net Flows
0 - 500
500 - 1000
1000 - 1500
1500 - 2000
Single displacement: Net Migration Probabilities
Net Migration Probability (per 100)
0 - 20
20 - 40
40 - 60
60 - 80
Multi-destination Circuits
•NVS data enable the analysis to move beyond analysis of singledisplacement trips;
• Large number of circuits identified in NVS data- analysis is limited to a
subset;
• Circuits emanating from Sydney;
• Circuits emanating from Perth;
• Pick up the linkages suggested in analysis of single displacement trips.
Circuits: Sydney
Primary flows
1-5
5 - 10
10 - 50
50 - 200
Secondary and onward flows
1-5
Circuits: Perth
Primary flow
1-5
5 - 10
10 - 50
50 - 200
Secondary and onward flows
1-5
Conclusion
• Study adopted an explicitly spatial perspective;
• Examination of spatial patterns of work-related temporary mobility suggests
the functional attributes of regions;
• Primacy of Australian State Capitals;
• Redistribution of work-related movers to remote parts of
Australia (mining);
• Linkages between State Capitals;
• Significant scope for further research into the role of work-related temporary
mobility in the Australian Space Economy;
•Need for further conceptual and methodological work on the measurement of
temporary mobility- circuits of mobility.