Nativity Concentration and Internal Migration among the Foreign-Born in Israel, 1990-1995

This study examines the effect of nativity concentration on internal migration patterns among the foreign-born population in Israel. Three hypotheses are proposed:
a) the group homogeneity hypothesis suggests that due to the immigration policy of Israel, which formally grants both the right to settle and citizenship only to Jews and thus immigrants share the religious identity of the majority population, nativity concentration will have a small effect on immigrants’ relocation;
b) the immigration motivation hypothesis predicts that nativity concentration is more likely to deter relocation among groups with reactive motivation for immigration;
c) the institutional approach hypothesis predicts a strong positive relationship between housing opportunities, which were improved by governmental intervention, and resettlement.
These hypotheses are largely confirmed by results from multinomial regression analysis of the 1995 Israel Census of Housing and Population, to which contextual measures were attached. The implications for the social and cultural integration of immigrants are discussed.