Assessing Effective Determinants toward Settlement of Newcomers to a Remote Island

Abstract

Although measures to attract newcomers to rural areas facing depopulation are drawing increasing attention, many of these new residents leave within a few years. To counter this situation, it is necessary to investigate what determinants work for the settlement of newcomers in rural areas. This paper explored these determinants by focusing on a remote island off Niigata, where a population increase has been observed. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of newcomers to this island. We employed a rank logit model to identify factors that promote the settlement of newcomers by considering when they came to the island, factors related to daily life, and the availability of jobs. The estimation results revealed that factors in daily life such as childcare and closeness of the local community worked positively in increasing the likelihood that the newcomers would remain in the community, but there was no correlation with the time of their arrival on the island.