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2016
Journal Article
Titel
Healthy Migrants? Health Selection of Internal Migrants in Germany
Abstract
In Germany, internal migration streams have shaped the population structure quite notably during the past two decades. As selective migration can have a substantial impact on the geographical distribution of health, this paper examines whether internal migrants in Germany are selected regarding their health status. To capture health selection, one measureâi.e. self-rated contentment with healthâand two established risk factors for poor healthâi.e. smoking and BMIâwere included. Applying event history analysis, the health status of migrants was compared to non-migrants, controlling for other individual characteristics. The analyses were based on the German Socio-Economic Panel, a retrospective data set representative of the German population. Results for self-rated health and smoking were inconclusive. While self-rated health was only related to migration in men, smoking was only linked to migration in women.