Abstract
Motivated by the issues caused by the massive migration of young people to large cities in Japan, the generality of such issues in Asian developing countries in the future, and the lack of relevant behavioral studies, this study disentangles young adults' residential relocation choices based on a life history survey of 1,400 respondents conducted in 2010. The relocation is captured at the large, medium-sized, and small city levels. Increasing migration from small to medium-sized/large cities and complicated migration within large cities and within medium-sized cities were confirmed at the individual level. Analyses based on a discrete choice model revealed clear differences in relocation decisions across different generations of males and females, diverse influences of a variety of living environment attributes and varied influences of state dependence and future expectations in the three types of cities. In particular, rich policy implications are discussed.
