A Search Algorithm for the Estimation of Interregional Migration in Local Areas

In: Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Band 5, Heft 1, S. 45-59

Abstract

A discrete step steepest descent search algorithm is developed for the estimation of interregional migration rates in local areas from historical time series. Objective function values are obtained from a constrained least-squares optimization, and it is found that the dimensions of the search space correspond to the number of smoothing operations in the columns of the data input matrix. The iterative algorithm requires the use of symptomatic indicators of intercensal population and is shown to yield improved results over a simple least squares approach.