Migration trends among regional clusters in Slovakia

Abstract

The presented study comprises the view on migration in depending on the development level of the region. The development is characterized not only by economic dimension, but expertise also includes social and demographic aspects to gain an overall perspective on the internal regional conditions. With the help of principal component analysis and cluster analysis, we identified homogenous clusters (sets of nearly equally developed districts). Using Kruskall-Wallis test, we have uncovered statistically significant differences among migration flows within given clusters. When considering a migration, two clusters exhibiting apparent differences from others have been detected: the exceptional cluster consisting of large cities districts and cluster of the districts surrounding the capital of Slovakia. Furthermore, for clusters identified in such a way and corresponding to them migration parameters, the cluster-based model has been proposed. Using this, we identified population dynamic trends for the next thirty years. We end by investigating the class of optimally selected migration enforcements (regional migration policies), which may prevent from the depopulation of less favored clusters of districts.