The Effectiveness of Immigration Policies
01 Sep 2013-Population and Development Review (Blackwell Publishing Ltd)-Vol. 39, Iss: 3, pp 487-508
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework for assessing the character and effectiveness of immigration policies is proposed, which distinguishes three policy gaps: the discrepancy between public discourses and policies on paper (discursive gap), the disparity between policies on policy and implemented policies (implementation gap), and the extent to which implemented policies affect migration.
Abstract: This article elaborates a conceptual framework for assessing the character and effectiveness of immigration policies It argues that, to a considerable extent, the public and academic controversy concerning this issue is spurious because of fuzzy definitions of policy effectiveness, stemming from confusion between (1) policy discourses, (2) policies on paper, (3) policy implementation, and (4) policy impacts The article distinguishes three policy gaps: the discrepancy between public discourses and policies on paper (discursive gap); the disparity between policies on paper and implemented policies (implementation gap); and the extent to which implemented policies affect migration (efficacy gap) Although implemented policies seem to be the correct yardstick to assess policy effectiveness, in practice the (generally more pronounced) discourses are often used as a benchmark This can lead to an overestimation of policy failure Existing empirical studies suggest that policies significantly affect the targeted migration flows, but they crucially fail to assess the relative importance of policies in comparison to other migration determinants, including non-migration policies, as well as the hypothetical occurrence of unintended categorical, spatial, inter-temporal, and reverse flow “substitution” effects Evidence on such effects is still scarce, showing the need for more empirically informed insights about the short- and long-term effects of migration policies
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TL;DR: The authors analyzes shifts in global migration patterns between 1960 and 2000 using indices that simultaneously capture changes in the spread, distance, and intensity of migration, finding that migration has globalized from a destination country perspective but hardly from an origin country perspective.
Abstract: Although it is commonly believed that the volume, diversity, geographical scope, and overall complexity of international migration have increased as part of globalization processes, this idea has remained largely untested. This article analyzes shifts in global migration patterns between 1960 and 2000 using indices that simultaneously capture changes in the spread, distance, and intensity of migration. While the results challenge the idea that there has been a global increase in volume, diversity, and geographical scope of migration, main migratory shifts have been directional. Migration has globalized from a destination country perspective but hardly from an origin country perspective, with migrants from an increasingly diverse array of non-European-origin countries concentrating in a shrinking pool of prime destination countries. The global migration map has thus become more skewed. Rather than refuting the globalization of migration hypothesis, this seems to reflect the asymmetric nature of globalization processes in general.
285 citations
Cites background from "The Effectiveness of Immigration Po..."
...Immigration policies have increasingly been about selection migrants in terms of their national origin, occupation, and wealth, rather than about curbing volumes per se (Ortega and Peri, 2009; Czaika and de Haas, 2013)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider key drivers of migration and explore different ways that they may be exploited in the future of human migration and the perpetuation of migration, and propose different ways to exploit them.
Abstract: Drivers can be understood as forces leading to the inception of migration and the perpetuation of movement. This article considers key drivers of migration and explores different ways that they may...
214 citations
TL;DR: The authors showed that, since 1945, migration policies have overall become less restrictive, and this long-term trend is robust across most of the 45 countries included in the DEMIG POLICY database.
Abstract: This paper demonstrates that, since 1945, migration policies have overall become less restrictive. Challenging common assumptions, this long-term trend is robust across most of the 45 countries included in the DEMIG POLICY database. While the period after 1989 is characterized by a slowing down of the rapid post-WWII liberalization of migration policies, liberal policy changes have continued to outnumber restrictive policy changes until today. Yet policy developments differ across policy types and migrant categories: Entry and integration policies have become less restrictive, while border control and exit policies have become more restrictive. Also, while policies towards irregular migrants and family migrants have been tightened in recent years, less restrictive changes have dominated policies targeting high- and low-skilled workers, students, and refugees. The essence of modern migration policies is thus not their growing restriction, but their focus on migrant selection.
129 citations
Cites background from "The Effectiveness of Immigration Po..."
...This challenges the rather widespread idea that these migrants are more and more shunned and points to a significant “discursive gap” (Czaika and de Haas 2013) between the “tough talk” of politicians aiming to attenuate public fears about immigration and the actual policies on paper, which are…...
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...Such a “discursive gap” (Czaika and de Haas 2013) implies that enacted policies may be strongly watered-down versions of the “tough talk” of politicians promising to bring immigration down, to increase border patrols, and to “fight illegal migration.”...
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...It defines migration policies as the “rules (i.e., laws, regulations and measures) that national states define and [enact] with the objective of affecting the volume, origin, direction, and internal composition of [. . .] migration” (cf. Czaika and de Haas 2013)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the main trends and drivers of international migration over the last century, and to what extent have migration policies been effective in shaping the volume, direction, timing, and selection of immigration and emigration.
Abstract: What have been the main trends and drivers of international migration over the last century, and to what extent have migration policies been effective in shaping the volume, direction, timing, and selection of immigration and emigration? This paper reviews the insights on migration trends, determinants and policy effects gained through the DEMIG (Determinants of International Migration) project. Questioning popular perceptions of accelerating international migration, the increase in global migration has remained proportional to the increase in world population. The main migratory shifts in the second half of the twentieth century have been directional, particularly through the decline of Europe as an area of origin and the emergence of Europe and the Gulf as new global destinations. This shift in migration movements towards Europe has been associated by an overall liberalisation of migration policies, which have increasingly focused on the selecting of migrants rather than controlling numbers per se. Most rules around legal entry, stay and exit of migrants have been relaxed, but a combination of visa and border control policies have served to prevent the entry of asylum seekers and other ‘unwanted’ migrants. Our analysis shows that it would therefore be excessive to conclude that borders are ‘beyond control’ (cf. Bhagwati 2003), and that migration policies are generally effective. Yet several ‘substitution effects’ limit or undermine the effectiveness of migration controls by (1) redirecting migration through other geographical routes and destinations (spatial substitution), (2) diverting migration through other legal and unauthorized channels (categorical substitution), (3) “now or never” migration surges in anticipation of restrictions (intertemporal substitution) and (4) discouraging return and interrupting circulation (reverse flow substitution). These expose fundamental policy dilemmas as well as the importance to look beyond migration policies. Our results show the importance of accounting for the complex and often counterintuitive ways in which structural social, economic, and political factors affect migration in mostly indirect, but powerful ways that largely lie beyond the reach of migration policies.
125 citations
Cites background from "The Effectiveness of Immigration Po..."
...Migration policies can be defined as rules (i.e., laws, regulations, measures, and procedures) that national states enact with the explicit objective of affecting the volume, origin, direction, and composition of migration (Czaika and de Haas 2013)....
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...Migration policies are typically a compromise among competing interests, which explains why their stated and real objectives are generally multiple and sometimes inherently contradictory (Bonjour 2011; Boswell 2007; Boswell and Geddes 2011; Czaika and de Haas 2013; Freeman 1995; Hollifield 1992)....
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...The third is the efficacy gap reflecting the degree to which implemented policies have the intended effect on the volume, timing, direction, and composition of migration, independently and in interaction with other migration determinants (Czaika and de Haas 2013; de Haas and Vezzoli 2011)....
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TL;DR: The most basic economic theory suggests that rising incomes in developing countries will deter emigration from those countries, an idea that captivates policymakers in international aid and trade diplomacy.
Abstract: The most basic economic theory suggests that rising incomes in developing countries will deter emigration from those countries, an idea that captivates policymakers in international aid and trade diplomacy. A lengthy literature and recent data suggest something quite different: that over the course of a “mobility transition”, emigration generally rises with economic development until countries reach upper-middle income, and only thereafter falls. This note quantifies the shape of the mobility transition in every decade since 1960. It then briefly surveys 45 years of research, which has yielded six classes of theory to explain the mobility transition and numerous tests of its existence and characteristics in both macro- and micro-level data. The note concludes by suggesting five questions that require further study.
120 citations
References
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Book•
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01 Jan 1991
6,018 citations
"The Effectiveness of Immigration Po..." refers background in this paper
...…flexible labor market policies and the ”neoliberal globalization” of the past few decades have boosted the demand for both high- and low-skilled migrant labor, which would explain increasing migration despite the political desire to curb immigration (Castles and Miller 2009; Sassen 1988, 1991)....
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TL;DR: Sassen's seminal work as discussed by the authors chronicles how New York, London, and Tokyo became command centers for the global economy and in the process underwent a series of massive and parallel changes.
Abstract: This classic work chronicles how New York, London, and Tokyo became command centers for the global economy and in the process underwent a series of massive and parallel changes. What distinguishes Sassen's theoretical framework is the emphasis on the formation of cross-border dynamics through which these cities and the growing number of other global cities begin to form strategic transnational networks. All the core data in this new edition have been updated, while the preface and epilogue discuss the relevant trends in globalization since the book originally came out in 1991.
4,685 citations
Book•
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01 Jan 1993
TL;DR: The third edition of the 3rd edition of as mentioned in this paper is the most comprehensive survey of international migration in the post-Cold-War era of globalization, focusing on the formation of ethnic minorities.
Abstract: Preface to the 3rd Edition - Introduction - The Migratory Process and the Formation of Ethnic Minorities - International Migration Before 1945 - Migration to Highly Developed Countries since 1945 - The State of International Migration: The Quest for Control - The Next Waves: The Globalization of International Migration - New Migrations in the Asia-Pacific Region - Migrants and Minorities in the Labour Force - The Migratory Process: A Comparison of Australia and Germany - New Ethnic Minorities and Society - Migrants and Politics - Conclusion: Migration in the Post Cold-War Era of Globalization
3,041 citations
15 Sep 1993
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss policy institutions and practices, policy discourse and the politics of Washington think tanks, Frank Fischer Discourse coalitions and the institutionalization of practice, Maarten Hajer Political judgement and the policy cycle -the case of ethnicity arguments in the Netherlands, Robert Hoppe Counsel and consensus -norm of argumentation in health policy, Bruce Jennings.
Abstract: Part 1 The argumentative turn: policy institutions and practices: Policy discourse and the politics of Washington think tanks, Frank Fischer Discourse coalitions and the institutionalization of practice - the case of acid rain in Great Britain, Maarten Hajer Political judgement and the policy cycle - the case of ethnicity arguments in the Netherlands, Robert Hoppe Counsel and consensus - norms of argumentation in health policy, Bruce Jennings. Part 2 Analytical concepts - frames, tropes, and narratives: Survey research as rhetorical trope - electric power planning arguments in Chicago, J.A. Throgmorton Frame reflective policy discourse, Martin Rein and Donald Schon Reading policy narratives - beginning, middle, and end, Thomas J. Kaplan Learning from practice stories - the priority of practical judgement, John Forester. Part 3 Theoretical perspectives: Policy anlysis and planning - from science to argumentation, John Dryzek Planning through debate - the communicative turn in planning theory, Patsy Healey Policy reforms as arguments, William Dunn Two worlds of policy discourse - consensual versus adversarial proposal selection, Duncan MacRae.
1,809 citations