Each American family is classified as living in an urban, rural, or suburban location. During a given year, 15% of all urban families move to a suburban location, and 5% move to a rural location; also, 6% of all suburban families move to an urban location, and 4% move to a rural location; finally, 4% of all rural families move to an urban location, and 6% move to a suburban location.
(a) If a family now lives in an urban location, what is the probability that it will live in an urban area two years from now? A suburban area ? A rural area ?
(b) Suppose that at present, 40% of all families live in an urban area, 35% live in a suburban area, and 25% live in a rural area. Two years from now, what percentage of American families will live in an urban area?
(c) What problems might occur if this model were used to predict the future population distribution of the United States?