Local geography of international migration to the UK

Our study builds on theoretical and empirical work that analyses the
determinants of migration movements. We explore the key trends in the
spatial pattern of immigration from the mid 1970s to the present and
undertake an investigation of the factors that, in general, help to explain why
immigrants locate in particular regions within the UK. The determinants of
migrants’ location choice may have important consequences for the design of
immigration policy. The capacity of a country to absorb immigration may be
higher if immigrants are likely to respond to location-specific economic
opportunities rather than concentrating in traditional areas of immigration. To
our knowledge, an empirical investigation of factors determining the regional
location choice of immigrants has never previously been undertaken for the
United Kingdom.