Push-Pull Factor Analysis

Push-pull factor analysis is the framework, formalized by Everett Lee in his 1966 article 'A Theory of Migration,' that decomposes every migration decision into four classes of force: factors at the area of origin that repel, factors at the area of destination that attract, a set of intervening obstacles between the two, and personal factors specific to the migrant. Lee argued that each place carries a mix of pluses, minuses, and zeros whose valence differs from person to person, and that migration occurs when the net balance of these forces, discounted by the obstacles and filtered by individual circumstance, favors moving. The framework's enduring appeal is that it organizes the bewildering variety of migration causes into a single comparative logic of origin versus destination. Massey and colleagues' 1993 review placed push-pull within the broader landscape of migration theory, noting both its descriptive power and its lack of a deeper behavioral mechanism. In empirical practice the framework is operationalized by comparing measurable attributes of origin and destination areas and relating their differentials to observed flows. It remains the default conceptual scaffolding for organizing migration determinants in policy and applied research.