Our objectives are to identify the issues that researchers encounter when measuring internal migration in different countries and to propose key indicators that analysts can use to compare internal migration at the 'national' level. We establish the benefits to be gained by a rigorous approach to cross-national comparisons of internal migration and discuss issues that affect such comparisons. We then distinguish four dimensions of internal migration on which countries can be compared and, for each dimension, identify a series of summary measures. We illustrate the issues and measures proposed by comparing migration in Australia and Great Britain. Copyright 2002 Royal Statistical Society.

Our objectives are to identify the issues that researchers encounter when measuring internal migration in different countries and to propose key indicators that analysts can use to compare internal migration at the 'national' level.We establish the benefits to be gained by a rigorous approach to cross-national comparisons of internal migration and discuss issues that affect such comparisons. We then distinguish four dimensions of internal migration on which countries can be compared and, for each dimension, identify a series of summary measures. We illustrate the issues and measures proposed by comparing migration in Australia and Great Britain.

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Changes in zonal boundaries severely compromise the reliability of comparisons made from time series data. We examine problems and solutions to the development of a temporally consistent spatial structure in the context of the literature on zone design. Four main approaches to the development of compatible spatial systems are identified and their merits discussed. One of these, the 'designer' solution, is used to establish a consistent spatial structure for the analysis of interregional migration in Australia over the period 1976 to 1996. It is shown that intercensal boundary changes over this period create significant spatial discontinuities and that variations in the digital boundaries from successive censuses hamper development of an automated solution. We set out the tasks involved in the design of geographical zones, establish criteria for the design of migration regions and describe the key procedures for implementation. Using these principles we then devise a system of 69 functional regions which for practical purposes

We conclude that statistical tools can be employed to provide regions that meet the criteria for small area analysis of health data and the analyst does not have to be tied to large administrative units such as wards. There are some benefits to executing this work within a Geographic Informative System. The method should be of interest to those concerned with health service delivery and the identification of 'problem regions'.

ABSTRACT. This paper describes a model (PUP -Projections for

This paper explores the impact of net migration in Australia and the United Kingdom using measures of migration effectiveness computed from period-age migration data for four consecutive five-year periods. Results reported in Part 1 of this paper (Stillwdl et aL 2000) suggest that while the overall effectiveness of net migration at the scale of city regions has declined over the twenty-year period in both countries, important geographical variations are evident, Part 2 considers how patterns of migration effectiveness vary by age and presents a single classification of all the city regions on the ba~ of age-specific effectiveness. More detailed analysis iadudes spatial patterns for particular age IFoups and net migration profiles of selected regions. Cohort effects are shown to be important for e~plaining changes between time periods in these regions.With the steady decline of spatial variations in fertility and mortality within developed countries, internal migration now plays a pre-eminent role in redistributing a nation's population. Understanding the forces underpinning such redistribution is greatly facilitated by adding a temporal dimension that reveals the way that patterns of redistribution have shifted and changed over time. Equally valuable is the addition of a aoss-national perspective to highlight commonatities and differences in the dynamics of movements within individual nations. This paper compares internal migration in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) in 1976-96 using data for four five-year periods and a matched set of city regions. One of the major problems confronted in this research is the lack of comparable migration data. In Australia, the data originate from consecutive censuses and are available in the form of period-cohort migration flows whereas the UK data are register-based and are in the form of period-age movements. The conceptual differences between the two types of data necessitated the construction of a harmonized database that has enabled the same age, period and cohort classifications to be used for both countries. Details of the data sources and the procedures for harmonizing the database are given in Bell etaL (1999).