Models of Migration Decision Making Reexamined: The Destination Search of Older Migrants to Cape Cod

Abstract

This paper explores variation in the scope of the destination search among a group of retirement migrants to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in terms of three factors: distance between origin and destination, previous place experience with the destination, and the presence of friends and family at the destination. The first two factors significantly restricted the search for potential destinations, but the third did not. These findings suggest the need to reevaluate accepted models of elderly migrants' decision making, which often distinguish between the decision to move and the selection of a destination.