The Shape of Mobility: Measuring the Distance Decay Function of Household Mobility

John Hipp, University of California, Irvine
Adam Boessen, University of California, Irvine

This study uses a unique dataset that provides information on the distance of the most recent move for a large sample of households in 22 metropolitan areas over three waves. With this information, we flexibly estimate the distance decay function for these moves for the entire sample. We also estimate the distance decay function for a series of subpopulations based on key demographic information. These bivariate estimates allow us to estimate the entire distance decay functional form for these subpopulations. Finally, we estimate multivariate models to assess the extent to which various subpopulations differ from the general population in their distance decay function, controlling for other characteristics.