Evaluation of the Migration Process from I-Lan County to Taipei City by Shu-Chun Chang Submitted in the Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Ph.D Degree Development Planning Unit University College London University of London UCL March 2000 ProQuest Number: 10631511 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10631511 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT The dominant conceptual view of migration is a model of migration based on factors of push and pull; the former drives people away from their place of origin and the latter pulls them toward somewhere else. This study aims, through an examination of rural-urban migration from I-Lan county to Taipei city in Taiwan, to test this conceptual understanding of the migration process. Accordingly, it considers how the migratory process takes place and assesses its inpact on both rural and urban change as well as on the processes of economic development and urbanisation. Its general objective is to clarify the dominant view of push-pull factors being the cause of urban migration in developing countries and in Taiwan in particular. Unlike the dominant conceptual theories which argue that migration results in large part from the pursuit of increased income the central hypothesis of this study is that the majority of out-migrants from I-Lan county to Taipei city leave because of factors other than the pursuit of increased incomes. This hypothesis has been tested through undertaking a field-research. The study addresses two key interrelated issues: the main reason for out-migration occurring in I- Lan county and the characteristics of out-migrants from I-Lan county to Taipei. The research design and strategy for data collection employed in this study incorporates two representative sample surveys. The first, comprising two hundred interviews, is of ‘out-migrants’ from I-Lan county, and the second, of one hundred interviews, is of the ‘stayers’, those who stayed behind in I-Lan county. The quantitative surveys are placed in context by an examination of relevant documentation and qualitative discussions with government officials, ‘stayers’ and ‘out- migrants’. The findings of this research indicate that migrants do not leave mainly for increased incomes. It is not the poorest who have the highest propensity to migrate to the city. Rather the process of out­ migration involves people with higher economic status, better education and skills compared to those who stay in their place of origin. There is also evidence that most migrants leave for better education and improved job opportunities in Taipei city. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people gave their valuable time to discuss various aspects of my research; my sincere apologies to anyone I inadvertently miss out! I am indebted to Dr. Sheilah Meikle for her guidance, encouragement, criticism and patience, without which this dissertation would not have been possible. My thanks also go to Mr. Michael Safier, Dr. Nadia Taher, who have provided insightful comments on this research. Special thanks to Prof. Nigel Harris for his help and criticism of the literature review. Similar accolades to Stephen Senn, Statistical Professor, Jenny Head, Lecturer, and SPSS expert Sigrid Fuhr at UCL as well as statistician Paul Cockle, all of whom have provided me with a great deal of knowledge for manipulating the data analysis. I extend my thanks to the staff of the Development Planning Unit, University College London, who have been supportive throughout these years. I am also grateful to Liesl Hattingh, Pramila Bennett, Mr. Paul Cunnell and Mrs. Valerie Cunnell, and Ming Ghee Khoo for reading and commenting on the draft. Many thanks to my countrymen, Dr. Wei-Zen Cheng, Dr. Chong-Guang Su, Mr. Kan Jao and Mrs. Vicky Jao, whose encouragement and advice always pushed me to complete this degree. I am also indebted to Prof. Ko-Ch’ing Liu, who taught me a great deal during the course of my fieldwork, and the governor of I-Lan County, Mr. Hsi-Kun Yu, who issued the formal letter and asked many of his colleagues to help me obtain data from I-Lan county’s Population Registration Centres, which made my fieldwork easier in many ways. I feel a sense of loss that they are not here to see the outcome of the work in which they had such a great role. A special thanks to Miss Su-Chuan Lin and the staff as well as students of the National Taiwan University, Taiwan, who made a great contribution by conducting my questionnaire interviews in Taipei city. My appreciation goes to Miss Li-Wang Cheng, who accompanied me to such a remote area - I-Lan county - from my hometown - Nan Tou city - for the fieldwork. Thanks also to I-Lan residents Miss Fang-Yu Cheng and Hsing-Jane Lin as well as their colleagues at I-Lan Council, who helped me with the questionnaires in I-Lan county. Finally, I am grateful to all my informants - including those who contributed to quantitative and qualitative data - who patiently filled out questionnaires and endured my hours of questioning. I hope that this dissertation, in some small way, will improve life in I-Lan county. 2 I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, whose love, encouragement, and cheerful support enabled me to overcome many obstacles and to complete this study. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract..............................................................................................................................................1 Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................................2 Dedication of the Study .................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................................4 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................10 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................12 List of Cases ..................................................................................................................................... 13 List of Regression Models ..............................................................................................................13 Map of I-Lan County .......................................................................................................................25 Photos 1-8 .............................................................................................................................. 223-226 Part Is CONTEXT OF BACKGROUND AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE STUDIES LOCATION Chapter 1: Introduction & Background 1.1 The Argument and Objective of the Research .......................................................................15 1.1.1 Argument ........................................................................................................................15 1.1.2 Objective.........................................................................................................................18 1.2 Research Questions and Hypotheses ......................................................................................19 1.2.1 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 19 1.2.2 Hypotheses ......................................................................................................................19 1.3 Background Information on I-Lan county - the place of origin ...........................................20 1.3.1 Location and Administration Boundary ....................................................................... 20 1.3.2 Infrastructure..................................................................................................................22 1.3.3 The Economy .................................................................................................................22 1.4 Structure of the Thesis ........................................................................................................... 23 4 PART II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Chapter 2: An Exploration of the Terms ‘Developed’, ‘Developing’ Countries, ‘Urban, ‘Rural’ and Migration Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 26 2.1 The Definition of the Term ‘Developing’ in Contrast to ‘Developed’ Countries and the Case of Taiwan .......................................................................................................................... 26 2.2 Definition of the Term ‘Urban’ in Contrast to ‘Rural’ .......................................................... 30 2.3 Difficulties and Imprecision in Defining the Terms ‘Migration’ and ‘ Migrant’ ...................37