# Migrate5 variable

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/migrate5-variable/4471>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [January 20, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/migrate5-variable/4471 "2022-01-20T18:35:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Abbie\_Robinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Abbie\_Robinson](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Abbie_Robinson)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/migrate5-variable/4471/1 "2022-01-20T18:35:50Z")

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I have a question about the migrate5 variable from IPUMS-International after reading the description. Does migrate5 show movement across major administrative units with harmonized or non-harmonized administrative units?

I attempted to manually harmonize migration results to compare individuals that have moved over time, but my results are not as expected. Wondering if the clarification on the migrate5 harmonization can help with my understanding. Thank you.

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**Author:** ![Ivan\_Strahof](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/ivan_strahof/32/626_2.png) [@Ivan\_Strahof](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ivan_Strahof)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/migrate5-variable/4471/2 "2022-01-28T21:54:01Z")

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[Migrate5](https://international.ipums.org/international-action/variables/MIGRATE5#codes_section) reports migration across unharmonized administrative units. That might explain the unexpected results that you’re getting since there may be cases in which units that existed 5 years ago do not exist in the current census or where new units were created. To mitigate this issue, you will need to use a map of the unharmonized geographic units to determine what changes were made to that unit (i.e. which administrative unit it was combined with/separated from).

There are a couple ways IPUMS can help you in this process. The first is that IPUMS does provide harmonized migration data on first-level administrative units in [GEOMIG1\_5](https://international.ipums.org/international-action/variables/GEOMIG1_5#codes_section).

Second is that though the process of harmonizing data on second-level units is still on-going, there are a few countries for which this process is complete. If you reach out to us at [ipums@umn.edu](mailto:ipums@umn.edu) and the country is available, I can share translation tables that would help you in deriving second-level administrative units for migration variables that are consistent over time.

This is a very complicated question, so I hope this answer helps!

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**Author:** ![Abbie\_Robinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Abbie\_Robinson](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Abbie_Robinson)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/migrate5-variable/4471/3 "2022-02-09T18:44:36Z")

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Using the geomig1\_5 variable helped. Thank you so much for the help!