Vol. 14 No. 1 (2023):
Research Article

Comparing student mobility pattern models

Marie-Louise Litmeyer
Justus Liebig University
Philipp Gareis
Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), Germany
Stefan Hennemann
Department of Geography, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Gießen, Germany
Development of high school graduates per 100,000 inhabitants. Description: The high school graduates per 100,000 inhabitants for the years are presented. It is important for the interpretation that in 2011 in Bavaria and Lower Saxony and in 2016 in Schleswig-Holstein two cohorts took their A-Level exams.

Published 2023-03-17

Keywords

  • Student Mobility,
  • Gravity Model,
  • Radial Model,
  • Germany,
  • Student mobility data

How to Cite

Litmeyer, Marie-Louise, Philipp Gareis, and Stefan Hennemann. 2023. “Comparing Student Mobility Pattern Models”. European Journal of Geography 14 (1):21-34. https://doi.org/10.48088/ejg.m.lit.14.1.21.34 .
Received 2023-01-20
Accepted 2023-03-17
Published 2023-03-17

Abstract

Classically, gravity models have been used to estimate mobility flows. However, in recent years, a number of new models, such as radiation models, have been introduced to estimate human mobility. The focus has generally been on models dealing with commuting movements. There is no systematic application of different versions of the laws of gravity to student mobility. The application of these models to student mobility provides the opportunity to calculate reliable forecasts of student mobility flows at the micro level, make medium- to long-term decisions at the university level, and implement sustainable strategic orientation. Therefore, this article uses different models to estimate interactions to improve the forecast of the regional distribution of students in Germany under data limitations. Using publicly available data on high school graduates and historical data on student flows between German counties, we show that radiative models with parameters are best suited to predict student flows at the level of German counties. Among parameter-free models, the population-weighted odds model yields the best results.

Highlights:
- Forecasting student mobility flows in Germany
- Model comparison between gravity and radiation models
- Implications for the development of universities

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