Step-Wise Migration: Evidence from Indonesia

The objective of this paper is to study multiple internal migration trajectories in Indonesia, with special attention to step-wise migration. Step-wise migration involves moves with smaller steps from village to nearby small town, to larger town, and then to big cities rather than a direct move from village to urban centres. Using the Indonesian Family Life Surveys 1993, 1997, 2000, 2007, and 2014, the trajectories (migration sequences) of 4,072 migrants are observed from age 12 up to 55. It is found that step-wise migration is evident, but not the predominant type of migration. The dominant migration trajectories are move across the same urban hierarchy and that shifting down urban hierarchy also occurs as in the US (Plane et al 2005) and in Indonesia (Wajdi et al 2015). It is also found that geographical aspects, such as birth region and distance of birth place from DKI Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, do not affect the likelihood of having a typical migration trajectory. Individual variables seem to explain step-wise migration and typical migration trajectory more than the geographical variables.