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Joaquin Arango

Bio: Joaquin Arango is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Circular cumulative causation. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 9 publications receiving 5530 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a discussion of current theories that clarify basic assumptions and hypotheses of the various models of international migration, including macro theories of neoclassical economics, micro theories of macro-economic economics, new economics with examples for crop insurance markets futures markets unemployment insurance and capital markets, dual labor market theory and structural inflation motivational problems economic dualism and the demography of labor supply; and world systems theory and the impacts of land raw materials labor material links ideological links and global cities.
Abstract: The configuration of developed countries has become today diverse and multiethnic due to international migration. A single coherent theoretical explanation for international migration is lacking. The aim of this discussion was the generation and integration of current theories that clarify basic assumptions and hypotheses of the various models. Theories were differentiated as explaining the initiation of migration and the perpetuation of international movement. Initiation theories discussed were 1) macro theories of neoclassical economics; 2) micro theories of neoclassical economics; 3) the new economics with examples for crop insurance markets futures markets unemployment insurance and capital markets; 4) dual labor market theory and structural inflation motivational problems economic dualism and the demography of labor supply; and 5) world systems theory and the impacts of land raw materials labor material links ideological links and global cities. Perpetuation theories were indicated as network theories of declining risks and costs; institutional theory cumulative causation through distribution of income and land organization of agrarian production culture of migration regional distribution of human capital and social labeling factors; and migration systems theory. The assumptions and propositions of these theories although divergent were not inherently contradictory but had very different implications for policy formulation. The policy decisions over the next decades will be very important and carry with them the potential for misunderstanding and conflict. Policy options based on the explicated models range from regulation by changing wages and employment conditions in destination countries or promoting development in countries of origin to changing structural market economic relations.

3,417 citations

Book
08 Apr 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present and evaluate the leading contemporary theories proposed to explain the emergence and operation of these systems; evaluate the efficacy of various theories as they applied to trends and patterns in North America Western Europe the Persian Gulf Asia and the Pacific and South America and then synthesize the results of these reviews to produce an integrated theoretical vision capable of providing a coherent guide for future research and policy formation.
Abstract: This work is produced by the members of the Committee on South-North Migration the committee was set up by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population in 1991 to develop a better theoretical understanding of the forces producing contemporary international migration. The approach is interdisciplinary. The book "was intended to describe the international migration systems that had emerged in different world regions by the decade of the 1980s; present and evaluate the leading contemporary theories proposed to explain the emergence and operation of these systems; evaluate the efficacy of the various theories as they applied to trends and patterns in North America Western Europe the Persian Gulf Asia and the Pacific and South America and then to synthesize the results of these reviews to produce an integrated theoretical vision capable of providing a coherent guide for future research and policy formation. We also planned to devote special attention to the thorny issue of international migration and economic development." (EXCERPT)

1,261 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article reviewed empirical studies of international migration within the North American migratory system in order to evaluate the various theories that seek to explain the initiation and perpetuation of international movement and found significant support for all theories suggesting that they constitute complementary rather than competing explanations of migration.
Abstract: The article reviews empirical studies of international migration within the North American migratory system in order to evaluate the various theories that seek to explain the initiation and perpetuation of international movement. The review uncovers significant support for all theories suggesting that they constitute complementary rather than competing explanations of migration. One criticism is that far too much research is focused on Mexico whose unique relationship to the United States may make it unrepresentative of broader patterns and trends in migration. After discussing salient gaps in the research record and outlining promising directions for future study the article attempts to construct a comprehensive model for understanding immigration into North America. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA) (EXCERPT)

544 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: Taylor, J. Edward; Arango, Joaquin ; Hugo, Graeme ; Kouaouci, Ali ; Massey, Douglas S. ; Pellegrino, Adela
Abstract: Taylor, J. Edward ; Arango, Joaquin ; Hugo, Graeme ; Kouaouci, Ali ; Massey, Douglas S. ; Pellegrino, Adela

294 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: Given a supportive mix of macroeconomic policies and infrastructure, international migration may function as a dynamic force promoting economic growth and national development, so long as it does not bring about the selective emigration of scarce human capital needed for development at home.
Abstract: "In this review, we examine theories, data, and research on the macroeconomic relationship between international migration and national development in all world regions. Earlier reviews have generally been pessimistic about the prospects for economic development as a result of international migration. Until recently, however, theories and data have not recognized the complex, multifaceted, and often indirect ways that international migration can influence the economic status of households, communities, and nations, and they have generally failed to appreciate how these relationships can change over time. When these complexities are incorporated into theoretical models, research designs, and data collection, a more nuanced and far more positive picture emerges. Given a supportive mix of macroeconomic policies and infrastructure, international migration may function as a dynamic force promoting economic growth and national development, so long as it does not bring about the selective emigration of scarce human capital needed for development at home."

169 citations


Cited by
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Book
15 Apr 1996
TL;DR: Sassen argues that a profound transformation is taking place, a partial denationalizing of national territory seen in such agreements as NAFTA and the European Union as discussed by the authors, and that two arenas stand out in the new spatial and economic order: the global capital market and the series of codes and institutions that have mushroomed into an international human rights regime.
Abstract: From the Publisher: What determines the flow of labor and capital in this new global information economy? Who has the capacity to coordinate this new system, to create a measure of order? And what happens to territoriality and sovereignty, two fundamental principles of the modern state? Losing Control? is a major addition to our understanding of these questions. Examining the rise of private transnational legal codes and supranational institutions such as the World Trade Organization and universal human rights covenants, Saskia Sassen argues that sovereignty remains an important feature of the international system, but that it is no longer confined to the nation-state. Sassen argues that a profound transformation is taking place, a partial denationalizing of national territory seen in such agreements as NAFTA and the European Union. Two arenas stand out in the new spatial and economic order: the global capital market and the series of codes and institutions that have mushroomed into an international human rights regime. As Sassen shows, these two quasi-legal realms now have the power and legitimacy to demand accountability from national governments, with the ironic twist that both depend upon the state to enforce their goals.

1,635 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Abstract: The debate on migration and development has swung back and forth like a pendulum, from developmentalist optimism in the 1950s and 1960s, to neo-Marxist pessimism over the 1970s and 1980s, towards more optimistic views in the 1990s and 2000s. This paper argues how such discursive shifts in the migration and development debate should be primarily seen as part of more general paradigm shifts in social and development theory. However, the classical opposition between pessimistic and optimistic views is challenged by empirical evidence pointing to the heterogeneity of migration impacts. By integrating and amending insights from the new economics of labor migration, livelihood perspectives in development studies and transnational perspectives in migration studies – which share several though as yet unobserved conceptual parallels – this paper elaborates the contours of a conceptual framework that simultaneously integrates agency and structure perspectives and is therefore able to account for the heterogeneous nature of migration-development interactions. The resulting perspective reveals the naivety of recent views celebrating migration as self-help development “from below”. These views are largely ideologically driven and shift the attention away from structural constraints and the vital role of states in shaping favorable conditions for positive development impacts of migration to occur.

1,428 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The article states that remittances may be a positive factor in economic development, which should be nurtured by economic policies, and varies across locales and is influenced by migrants' remittance behavior and by economic contexts.
Abstract: In 1995, international migrant remittances exceeded US$70 billion. How have these remittances shaped development in migrant sending areas? Pessimistic views on migration and development pervade the literature. In contrast, the new economics of labour migration (NELM) argues that migration may set in motion a development dynamic, lessening production and investment constraints faced by households in imperfect market environments and creating income growth linkages. This article assesses the development potential of remittances from a NELM perspective and cites empirical evidence that remittances may be a positive factor in economic development. Governments in migrant origin countries may increase the development potential of remittances through a variety of economic policies. Creating a fertile ground for remittances to contribute to broad based income growth in migrant sending areas is a key to promoting development from migration.

1,285 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors link individual acts of migration to 41 theoretically defined individual-, household-, community-, and macroeconomic-level predictors, and find that Mexico-U.S. migration stems from three mutually reinforcing processes: social capital formation, human capital formation and market consolidation.
Abstract: Using data gathered in 25 Mexican communities, the authors link individual acts of migration to 41 theoretically defined individual-, household-, community-, and macroeconomic-level predictors. The indicators vary through time to yield a discrete-time event-history analysis. Over the past 25 years, probabilities of first, repeat, and return migration have been linked more to the forces identified by social capital theory and the new economics of migration than to the cost-benefit calculations assumed by the neoclassical model. The authors find that Mexico-U.S. migration stems from three mutually reinforcing processes: social capital formation, human capital formation, and market consolidation.

1,253 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the empirical existence of transnationalism on the basis of discriminant functions of migrant characteristics, and the relative probabilities of engaging in these kinds of activities was established based on hypotheses drawn from the literature.
Abstract: The recent literature on immigrant transnationalism points to an alternative form of economic adaptation of foreign minorities in advanced societies that is based on the mobilization of their cross-country social networks. Case studies have noted the phenomenon's potential significance for immigrant integration into receiving countries and for the economic development in countries of origin. Despite their suggestive character, these studies consistently sample on the dependent variable (transnationalism), failing to establish the empirical existence of these activities beyond a few descriptive examples and their possible determinants. These issues are addressed using a survey designed explicitly for this purpose and conducted among selected Latin immigrant groups in the United States. Although immigrant transnationalism has received little attention in the mainstream sociological literature so far, it has the potential of altering the character of the new ethnic communities spawned by contemporary immigration. The empirical existence of transnationalism is examined on the basis of discriminant functions of migrant characteristics, and the relative probabilities of engaging in these kinds of activities is established based on hypotheses drawn from the literature. Implications for the sociology of immigration as well as for broader sociological theories of the economy are discussed. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

1,015 citations