Migration Behavior: the Effort Reduction Principle by G. Zipf

Abstract

This article analyzes the legacy of one of the ‘classics’ of 20th century migration studies — George Zipf. Particular attention is paid to his work “Human behavior and the principle of last effort. An introduction to human ecology”. The authors focus not so much on the results of Zipf’s research, but on the questions he posed, and make the claim that these questions constitute the true value of Zipf’s scientific heritage. His inquiry on the criteria for describing migration process efficiency has become one of the key questions when it comes to theories of migration behavior, social adaptation and integration of migrants. The question about the influence of collective and group subjectivity on migration decision-making had a significant impact on the push and pull theory as formulated by E. Lee, while Zipf’s reflections on how migration behavior is influenced by the division of labor and the diversity of professional skills became the foundation for D. Massey's synthetic theory of migration. Step by step the article’s authors analyze Zipf's reflections in relation to such questions as: are migrants a social group? How can migration efficiency be measured? Is there a relationship between the movement of people and the movement of capital? How do the division of labor and the law of supply and demand affect migration? In conclusion, the authors formulate those theses brought forth by G. Zipf that are still relevant to this day.

Keywords

• migration
• migration behavior
• migrant
• the principle of least effort