Impact of Internal Migration on Population Redistribution in Slovenia

Background: In most countries, data on migration refer only to flows between administratively or statistically defined zones that are changing over time. When different numbers, sizes, and shapes of areas are chosen for analysis of internal migration, different results are generated. This problem is recognised as the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). Objectives: The paper analyses the impact of inter-municipal migration on population redistribution in Slovenia in 2000–2014 by considering the MAUP. Namely, the number of analysed municipalities increased by 19 in the considered period. Methods/Approach: We analysed the MAUP effects and estimated internal migration statistics by producing a large number of aggregations using the IMAGE Studio software. Results: Several statistics that measure the direction and pace of population concentration, as well as the correlation between measures of migration intensity and national development, have been calculated. Conclusions: The results for Slovenia show that the migration efficiency decreases with the development process measured by the human development index