Conservation Economics Institute, Twin Falls, ID, USA.
U.S. Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Asheville, NC, USA.
Environ Manage. 2020 Jul;66(1):56-71. doi: 10.1007/s00267-020-01293-6. Epub 2020 Apr 27.
Rural amenity migration, or the relocation for quality of life purposes as opposed to monetary enhancement, has been occurring for decades and has been particularly pronounced in the American West where the phenomenon peaked in the 1990s. Researchers have illustrated that some places are more attractive for migrants than others and that certain regional amenities hold considerable influence on where migrants relocate. Increased migration levels typically result in increased economic growth indicators, making amenity migration an attractive rural development strategy. But comprehensive econometric analysis focused on amenity migration in the American West has been lacking. To address this, we conducted an econometric analysis of attributes that influenced migration to rural Western counties from 1980 to 2010. Over 20 potential amenity supply categories were collated for 356 rural counties from 11 Western states, with a focus on public lands. Descriptive statistics and OLS regressions were estimated and interpreted. Traditional amenities of climate, water area, and regional access were highly associated with migration levels, while designated natural amenities of Wilderness and National Monuments were the most influential public lands for migration to rural Western counties. Farming and oil and gas dependency were negatively associated with migration levels. Increasing the amount of protected areas, and branding campaigns based on natural amenities, can be a critical development strategy for rural communities.
农村吸引力迁移，即出于生活质量而非经济改善的目的进行迁移，已经持续了几十年，在美国西部尤为明显，这一现象在 20 世纪 90 年代达到顶峰。研究人员表明，与其他地区相比，某些地方对移民更具吸引力，某些地区的特色设施对移民的迁移地点有很大影响。移民水平的增加通常会导致经济增长指标的增加，因此农村吸引力迁移是一种有吸引力的农村发展战略。但是，对美国西部农村吸引力迁移的综合计量经济学分析一直缺乏。为了解决这个问题，我们对 1980 年至 2010 年影响农村西部县移民的因素进行了计量经济学分析。在 11 个西部州的 356 个农村县，收集了 20 多种潜在的公共设施供应类别，重点是公共土地。我们进行了描述性统计和 OLS 回归估计和解释。气候、水域和区域可达性等传统特色设施与移民水平高度相关，而荒野和国家纪念碑等指定的自然特色设施是吸引农村西部县移民的最具影响力的公共土地。农业和石油天然气依赖与移民水平呈负相关。增加保护区数量，以及基于自然特色设施的品牌推广活动，可以成为农村社区发展的关键战略。
