Place utility and two-dimensional utility space : a case study of Victoria
Date
1977
Authors
Taylor, Stephen Roger
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Abstract
Much attention and effort has been expended by social scientists upon the subject of migration. Many studies confirm that, under conditions of free choice, one of the strongest incentives to migrate is the economic differential between an origin and a destination. However, there are indications both in academic studies and the popular press that there is a growing number of people who are prepared to forego increased economic opportunity in order to avail themselves of the noneconomic advantages, or amenities, of a particular place. Under these conditions it would therefore appear that the concept of place utility might be assuming increasing importance.
The concept of place utility was first put forward by Julian Wolpert in 1965 and has been the foundation of a number of studies. The study presented here builds upon the concept of place utility by dichotomizing the utility of a place into an economic component and an amenities component.
After examining contributions from psychology, sociology, economics and geography, the study postulates that places are perceived by people in terms of their ability to satisfy, or "reduce," economic and noneconomic needs. When considering a potential destination, a person will evaluate his present need set and the constraints that are placed upon him. A limited number of places will then be perceived to hold the potential to reduce the need set. Upon evaluation of this opportunity set the migrant will choose that place which he perceives will place him on his highest indifference curve and his rational decision will be to move to that place.
Using the Greater Victoria area as a case in point, new migrants to the region were surveyed to determine the importance of seven subgroups (containing a total of 62 variables) in the decision to relocate to the region. Additionally, the migrants' attitudes with respect to the non-economic component of utility were surveyed together with their former place experience. A descriptive analysis reports the results obtained from returned questionnaires; an associational analysis examines for significant clusters of variables; and a scattergram analysis dichotomizes the results into an economic score and an amenities score for each respondent and also locates the study area in two-dimensional utility space based upon the respondents' mean scores.
The main conclusion reached after conducting the study is that economic reasons still continue to exert a strong influence upon the choice of a destination, but that amenities are not something that should be ignored or dismissed as being of no importance. Also, the value of locating places in utility space could serve as an indicator for the relative success of various places in satisfying the needs of their new (and possibly long-established) residents.