Population Distribution Policies in Developed Socialist and Western Nations

Abstract

The population distribution policies and instruments used in the developed European countries with particular reference to Poland Hungary the German Democratic Republic Czechoslovakia and the USSR and the developed marked and mixed economies of Western Europe North America and Australia are examined. The development of population distribution policies and policy objectives in each group of countries is discussed along with a detailed comparison of policy instruments. A review of selected evaluation studies and discussion of the implications for policy and research is included. The population distribution policies of both Eastern and Western countries appears to suffer from being directed at populations-at-large while migration theory would suggest that policies would be more effective if targeted at specific subgroups of the population taking advantage of known migration differentials by age education levels and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Policies would be more successful if they explicitly incorporated knowledge regarding directional and distance biases in migration streams. The experience of population redistribution attempts in developed countries suggests that knowledge in many areas is below the level necessary to accurately guide policymakers and further research is required on such subjects as the determination of optimum settlement and population distribution patterns the redistribution mechanism and the theoretical and empirical analysis of policies and policy impacts.

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