Showing papers on "Human migration published in 2008"

The New Face of East–West Migration in Europe

Abstract: In order to contextualise the papers in this special issue, this paper presents an overview and framework for understanding the importance of East–West migration in Europe associated with the EU enlargement process. The new patterns and forms of migration seen among East European migrants in the West—in terms of circular and temporary free movement, informal labour market incorporation, cultures of migration, transnational networks, and other phenomena documented in the following papers—illustrate the emergence of a new migration system in Europe. Textbook narratives, in terms of standard accounts of immigration, integration and citizenship based on models of post-colonial, guestworker and asylum migration, will need to be rethought. One particularly fertile source for this is the large body of theory and research developed in the study of Mexican–US migration, itself a part of a regional integration process of comparative relevance to the new European context. While the benefits of open migration from th...

The Myth of Invasion: the inconvenient realities of African migration to Europe

Abstract: African migration to Europe is commonly seen as a tidal wave of desperate people fleeing poverty and warfare at home trying to enter the elusive European el Dorado. Typical ‘solutions’ proposed by politicians include increasing border controls or boosting African ‘stay-at-home’ development. However, such apocalyptic views are based on fundamentally flawed assumptions about the (limited) magnitude, historicity, nature and causes of this migration. Dominant discourses obscure the fact that African migration to Europe and Libya is fuelled by a structural demand for cheap migrant labour in informal sectors. This explains why restrictive immigration policies have invariably failed to stop migration and have had various perverse effects. African development is also unlikely to curb migration as it will enable and inspire more people to migrate. Despite lip service being paid to ‘combating illegal migration’ for political and diplomatic reasons, neither European nor African states have much genuine inte...

Scale, Diversity and Determinants of Labour Migration in Europe

Abstract: While global migration is increasing, internal EU migration flows have remained low. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the determinants and scale of European migration. It surveys previous historical experiences and empirical findings including the recent Eastern enlargements. The determinants of migration before and after the 2004 enlargement and in the EU15 and EU10 countries are analysed using individual data on migration intentions. In addition, perceptions about the size of migration after the enlargement are studied. The potential emigrant from both old and new EU member states tends to be young, better educated and to live in larger cities. People from the EU10 with children are less likely to move after enlargement in comparison to those without family. There exists a correlation between individual perceptions about the scale of migration and actual flows. Better educated and left-oriented individuals in the EU15 are less likely to perceive these flows as important.

Migration to European Countries: A Structural Explanation of Patterns, 1980–2004†

Abstract: Various theoretical approaches have provided us with insights to explain the pattern of migration flows. Economic theory considers migration to be a reaction to labor market and economic incentives. Cultural theories predict that migration flows will occur according to a center-periphery pattern, while social network analysis assumes that migrants follow already established migration networks. We test these three approaches simultaneously, using OECD and Eurostat data on the migrant inflow into the European countries between 1980 and 2004. The analysis demonstrates that migration flows react to economic incentives, mainly with regard to the labor market, but also to cultural and colonial linkages. There is no indication that the importance of the colonial past is declining over time. The response of migration patterns to shortages in the labor market is shown to be highly efficient, while the analysis shows that immigrants are not attracted by high levels of social expenditure.

The Economic Consequences of the International Migration of Labor

Abstract: In this paper, I selectively discuss recent empirical work on the consequences of global labor mobility. I examine how international migration affects the incomes of individuals in sending and receiving countries and of migrants themselves. Were a social planner to choose the migration policies that would maximize global welfare, she would need to know, among other values, the elasticities of wages, prices, taxes, and government transfers with respect to national labor supplies, as well as how these parameters vary across countries. My goal is to evaluate the progress of the literature in terms of providing these inputs.

Demographic and labour-market impacts of migration on Poland

Abstract: Post-2004 labour migration from Poland turned out to be one of the most spectacular migratory movements in contemporary European history. This outflow on a massive scale is surmised to impact on demographic, economic, and social phenomena both in Poland and in the receiving countries. The aim of this paper is to assess the demographic and labour-market impacts of the recent migration of Poles. We argue that selectivity patterns in the post-accession period differ significantly from those noted in the pre-accession phase. Recently, a stronger propensity to migrate is observed among young and relatively well-educated people who, at the same time, originate from economically backward areas characterized by limited employment opportunities. This observation is consistent with our assessment of the labour-market impacts of recent migration from Poland. From the analyses presented it follows that the short- and medium-term impacts of migration on the Polish labour market are moderate. However, as we argue, recent outflow might contribute significantly to a crowding-out of the economy in the long term.

Metropolitan Migrants: The Migration of Urban Mexicans to the United States

Abstract: List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Map of Monterrey and Houston 1. The Migration of Urban Mexicans to the United States 2. Urban-Industrial Development in Mexico, 1940-2005 3. Restructuring and International Migration in a Mexican Urban Neighborhood 4. The Monterrey-Houston Connection: The Social Organization of Migration and the Economic Incorporation of Immigrants 5. The Migration Industry in the Monterrey-Houston Connection 6. Metropolitan Migrants: A New Dimension of Mexico-U.S. Migration Methodological Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

The Culture of Migration of Rural Romanian Youth

Abstract: Within the context of a changing economic environment since 1990, the westward migration of Romanian citizens continues. As various recent surveys reveal, the potential for migration, especially among the young, is still high. This study analyses the economic and cultural sources of this enduring process. The focus is the rural young: on the ways in which they represent migration and see themselves as would-be migrants. It argues that the migration of young people is typically connected with the problematic transition to adulthood, in situations where jobs are insecure and difficult to obtain in the primary segment of the labour market. Migration turns out to be an indeterminate context linked to the uncertain socio-economic status of a prolonged transition to adulthood.

Migration, Identity and Belonging

Abstract: The study of migration within geography takes a variety of forms. While geographers traditionally studied push and pull factors in migration, this approach was challenged for its reliance on quantitative methods and its emphasis on economic factors. New approaches to the study of migration in geography have thus incorporated qualitative techniques and focused on migrant identities and migrant subjectivities. They have also provided new theorizations of the relationship between mobility and belonging, particularly through the concepts of transnationalism and translocalism, and through scales of belonging that range from citizenship to the home. Despite claims of the demise of the nation-state under globalization, the role of the nation-state in regulating migration and migrants, and in managing and policing borders, highlights its ongoing importance. Similarly, the potential centrality of place to the ongoing study of migration is highlighted by recent research on cities and regions. This foregrounds the negotiated and mutable nature of place in the context of transformations at a variety of interconnected scales.

Global Labour Markets, Return and Onward Migration

Abstract: There is increasing evidence that international migration is characterized by frequent return and onward migration. This has important consequences for the contribution of immigrants to the economy of the host country. Lack of longitudinal data has prevented much analysis of how frequently international migration involves a sequence of location decisions or how long the typical migrant stays in a host country. A newly available longitudinal data set covering all immigrants to Canada since 1980 provides the opportunity to address these issues. The results show that a large fraction of male immigrants who are of working age, especially among skilled workers and entrepreneurs, are highly internationally mobile.

International migration and the role of institutions

Abstract: We study the determinants of international migration with special attention to the role of institutional factors other than economic and demographic fundamentals. We evaluate the impact of political institutions and of those institutions specifically targeted at attracting migrants. For a dataset on 19th century migration, we find that economic and demographic differentials play a major role, but that the quality of institutions also matter. We produce evidence that both political and migration institutions represent significant factors of attraction, even after controlling for their potential endogeneity through a set of instruments exploiting colonial history and the institutions inherited from the past.

World migration 2008 : managing labour mobility in the evolving global economy

Abstract: The task of formulating workable approaches to the management of international migration remains a formidable challenge or the community, one that will require both time and effort over the coming years. In what terms are we to develop comprehensive migration management strategies that will help us achieve coherence of action? What organizing principles should be adopted? Is there, in conceptual terms, a point of leverage to move the debate forward? Part of the problem lies in the difficulty of coming to a consensus about the fundamental nature of migration and its outcomes. Underlying the current and welcome inclination to acknowledge the potentially beneficial outcomes of migratory phenomena are many questions that are yet to be fully resolved. Should migration be considered entirely 'natural', seen as a constituent part of human behaviour, and occurring throughout human history, or profoundly 'unnatural' since it is about the (painful) uprooting of individuals from their places of birth and their (equally difficult) relocation in other countries? Is it a process through which nations are built and strengthened or shaken up and weakened? Does it lead to the enrichment of countries of origin through the flow of remittances and the transfer of skills and technology or to their impoverishment through loss of talent and inadequate attention to the development of job opportunities at home? Would migration management be more effective if priority of attention were given to the maintenance of national sovereignty in migration or to the free play of market interests? Are migratory flows sustained essentially by a complex interplay of economic push and pull factors or by social communication networks? In the midst of that uncertainty there are suggestions worth exploring that contemporary migration - as opposed to whatever its historical antecedents may have been - is uniquely related to and defined by those processes of economic and social integration collectively known as globalization. The argument is that, whether by design or not, these developments are largely responsible for the creation of an unprecedented context in which human mobility seeks to find expression on a genuinely global scale. "The World Migration Report 2008" tackles this issue directly and seeks to identify policy options that might contribute to the development of broad and coherent strategies to better match demand for migrant workers with supply in safe, humane and orderly ways.

Temperament and Migration Patterns in Finland

Abstract: Migration is a central determinant of population dynamics and structure. We examined whether three major temperament traits—sociability, emotionality, and activity—predicted migration propensity, selective urban-rural migration, and migration distance in a 9-year prospective study in Finland. The participants were Finnish women and men (N = 1,733) ages 15 to 30 years at baseline. The home municipality's position on the urban-rural continuum was assessed on the basis of the municipality's population density. We found that high sociability predicted migration to urban areas and longer migration distances. High activity increased general migration propensity (including migration to both urban and rural areas). High emotionality increased the likelihood of leaving the home municipality and decreased migration distances, but was not associated with selective urban-rural migration. These data suggest that temperament predicts the self-selection of environments on a demographic scale and may be relevant in under...

Australia’s State-Specific and Regional Migration Scheme: An Assessment of its Impacts in South Australia

Abstract: In post-demographic transition societies, the impacts of low fertility and aging are most strongly felt in peripheral areas where they are exacerbated by youth outmigration. International migration is increasingly seen to have the potential to offset these demographic constraints on economic development. In Australia, immigration policy has been strongly focused on selecting who can be accepted as settlers. However, there are now a range of visa categories which also influence where they settle and channels a fifth of settler arrivals into lagging peripheral parts of the nation. This paper shows how these have been used by the State of South Australia to more than treble its immigrant intake as part of its economic development strategy. The impact of the State-Specific Regional Migration (SSRM) Scheme in South Australia is assessed and the initial experience of settlers examined. It is argued that international migration can play a supportive role in the development of peripheral regions in OECD countries, but there are a number of preconditions which need to be met for them to be effective.

In and out of australia

Abstract: China and India, with four out of ten of the world's inhabitants, must loom large in any discussion of global international migration, especially so-called South–North migration. They have become major sources of migrants to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. This paper focuses on the migration relationship between China and India and one of the OECD nations, Australia. Australian international migration data allow a comprehensive picture of all movement in and out of the country to be made, and for this article, flows with China and India are analysed. It is argued that the migration relationship is best depicted as a complex migration system involving flows in both directions and circularity, reciprocity, and remigration. A conceptual scheme is developed to identify the main components of the migration system and it is shown that many migrants transit between the different elements in the system. The analysis demonstrates that the traditional conceptualisation of t...

Migration past and present: changing patterns in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract: Internal and international labour migration is a main livelihood strategy for many people in rural areas of Kyrgyzstan. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the employable population of Kyrgyzstan is working abroad. However, current labour migration phenomena are not exceptional since Central Asia's history has always been characterized by the movement of people, including external and internal, forced and voluntary, legal and illegal, permanent and temporary, ethnically or economically motivated migration. This article gives an overview of the historical and present migration processes with a special focus on three village communities in rural Kyrgyzstan. It deals with the opportunities and difficulties with which labour migrants and their non-migrating family members are confronted today. The results are based on extensive field work in Kyrgyzstan.

Globalisation, International Labour Migration and the Rights of Migrant Workers

Abstract: The aim of the paper is to highlight the gaps between policy and practice in the current discourse on international migration and its links with development. It contends that a major cause of the limited development impact of migration is the ‘closed door policy’ of major destination countries on the admission of low-skilled migrant workers from developing countries. The paper addresses the weak foundations and major consequences of this policy: the denial of labour demand, channelling a large part of flows to irregular migration, consequent exploitation and violation of rights of migrant workers, and accelerated brain drain from developing countries. While there is increasing emphasis on temporary migration policies and programmes for low skilled labour, achievements on the ground have been quite limited. The movement towards a global migration regime which can address current pressing issues has also not progressed beyond broad consultative forums. There is an imperative need for fresh approach...

Bienvenidos a Canadá? Globalization and the Migration Industry Surrounding Temporary Agricultural Migration in Canada

Abstract: “Migrant workers” have become an important resource in the global economy, and not solely for employers and governments. Multilateral agreements, trade liberalization, and advancements in communication and transportation have enabled flows of the world’s poor into international labour migration systems, often mediated by a migration industry that profits from providing services to employers and migrants. Based on ethnographic case studies in Mexico, participant observation in Ontario, and interviews with migrant workers and their families, farmers, government representatives and other intermediaries, this paper examines the extent to which a migration industry has formed around the Mexican-Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.

Chinese Migration and China's Foreign Policy in Africa

Abstract: Since the end of the 1990s, Africa has seen an increasing number of migrants of Chinese origin. It is possible to differentiate between three types of Chinese migration: a temporary labor migration flow linked to public building works and infrastructure projects undertaken by big Chinese enterprises; an entrepreneurial migration flow made up of merchants native to mainland China some of whom coming from the different diaspora communities; a proletarian transit migration flow consisting of people trying to sell their labor in western countries while waiting in Africa for opportunities to enter those countries. Over the same period, the foreign relations between China and Africa have expanded. There are roughly three elements in Chinese policy toward the continent: to gain access to natural resources such as oil and minerals, to widen China's export market and to strengthen China's diplomatic support for different international organizations. The objectives are to ensure the economic growth of the PRC and widen its political influence. This article aims to put in perspective the recent developments in Chinese migration and the orientations of China's foreign policy in Africa, and to re-address the question of relations between China and the Chinese overseas.

Long-Term Trends in International Migration: An Analysis of the Six Main Receiving Countries

Abstract: This article proposes ail estimation of international migration to the six main receiving countries of the OECD between 1975 and 2000. The analysis reveals a large increase in international migration during this period, together with a substantial change in migrant skills. In parallel with this phenomenon we note a significant rise in skill levels at world level. An analysis by country shows a high degree of stability in the list of the countries most affected by the brain drain. While overall change in the migration of skills is limited, the list of countries with the largest losses of highly skilled workers in 1975 is largely unchanged twenty-five years later.

International migration and economic development. Lessons from low-income countries

Abstract: Lucas’ fascinating book is divided into three parts. The introduction begins by analysing the context and determinants of migration. Lucas then moves on to look at the economic repercussions of migration for development in the migrants’ countries of origin, paying particular attention to the emigration of highly skilled professionals and the cost of this brain drain for local development. He also examines the influence of irregular immigration on the host country. Finally, Lucas considers the economic policy of the four main migration regimes. The four case study areas are the European Union, North America, the Persian Gulf and East Asia. The book addresses two main issues: immigration policy and its features in the four major areas mentioned above, and the effects of migration on economic development in both the sending and the receiving country. Recent years have seen an unprecedented growth in immigration across the OECD countries, whose level of economic development is a powerful factor in attracting labour. Migration also appears to have a profound effect on development in the migrants’ countries of origin. The Washington Consensus agenda was geared towards promoting trade, but it also led to the establishment of certain principles, such as the idea of ‘correct prices’ aimed at preventing the devastating effects that trade liberalisation can have on developing countries. The fact that remittances sent by migrants to their country of origin appear to have a critical influence on these countries’ balance of payments is proof positive of the economic importance of migration. Indeed, for some countries, remittances are the biggest or second biggest source of foreign currency.

Cumulative causation, market transition, and emigration from China.

Abstract: This article reports findings from a recent survey of international migration from China’s Fujian Province to the United States. Using the ethnosurvey approach developed in the Mexican Migration Project, the authors conducted surveys in migrant‐sending communities in China as well as in destination communities in New York City. Hypotheses are derived from the international migration literature and the market transition debate. The results are generally consistent with hypotheses derived from cumulative causation of migration; however, geographical location creates some differences in migration patterns to the United States. In China as in Mexico, the existence of migration networks increases the propensity of migration for others in the community. In contrast to the Mexican case, among Chinese immigrants, having a previously migrated household member increases the propensity of other household members to migrate only after the debt for previous migration is paid off. In step with market transition theory,...

Indo-Pacific Migration and Colonization—Introduction

Abstract: In this Introduction we comment on issues raised by the present collection of papers as they appear relevant in thinking about the settlement of the Indo-Pacific from the Pleistocene to the late Holocene. Successful maritime migration across this vast region was obviously related to voyaging technology and colonizing behaviors. Here we critique earlier models that indicate simple unidirectional expansion and posit farming, or indeed any other single driver, for maritime expansion in the mid-late Holocene. It now appears that the development of interaction spheres in Wallacea, and perhaps connections with New Guinea, have contributed significantly to late Holocene societies in ISEA and Island Melanesia. Even in Remote Oceania where long-term colonizing success was dependent on a transported tropical horticultural complex, initial settlement strategies are likely to have been highly varied and to have had variable success. Nor is migration restricted to the founding events of island settlement; rather, it continued as a significant component of the formation and re-formation of island cultures up to the historical era and, of course, within the present day. Like the authors represented here we suggest that if we wish to make progress in understanding the motives, sources, mechanisms and results of colonizing migration, there will be greatest reward in exploring the complexity and variability that lie behind it. KEYWORDS: Maritime migration, Indo-Pacific, Island Southeast Asia, seafaring technology, voyaging strategies, Austronesian colonization, transported landscapes. UNDERSTANDING OF INDO-PACIFIC PREHISTORY during the late Holocene is changing continually and no more so than in thinking about issues of migration and colonization. These can be regarded as the mobile and relatively sessile phases respectively of initial or later human settlement in oceanic landscapes. The Indo-Pacific region comprises Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), Australia, and the Oceanic islands, to which are added the remote outlier of Madagascar. In Indo-Pacific prehistory, especially within the last 5000 years, the movement of populations by voyaging, coastally and across sea-gaps of up to several thousand kilometers, is perhaps the most notable feature and the most influential in shaping the geography of human prehistory. The repeated creation and development of new societies and interactive networks, the introduction of plants, animals, and productive systems, the advent of new technologies, and the anthropogenic impact upon island environments are integrally related consequences of maritime colonization. Areas of particular interest in terms of migration and colonization during the late Holocene are ISEA and Remote Oceania, which are seen as closely connected by the expansion of Austronesian-speaking populations. The Austronesian connection, however, has been established more convincingly in linguistic and genetic propositions than by archaeological field research and analyses. In part, that is simply because inferences about origin are obtained more readily from language and molecular biology than from material culture or other archaeological remains, but differences in approach between the regions have also frustrated the articulation of ISEA and Oceanic archaeologies. For example, virtually all of the early pottery sites investigated in ISEA are caves or shelters and on sampling grounds alone they provide a debatable basis of comparison with Lapita open sites farther east. In addition, while the late Holocene prehistory of Remote Oceania concerns human migration to, and colonization of, islands that hitherto had seen no human settlement, ancient and still-occupied anthropogenic landscapes of much larger and more diverse islands provided the setting for late Holocene prehistory in ISEA and Near Oceania. Initial colonization of these was much more remote in time and circumstance. In this Introduction we comment on issues raised by the present collection of papers as they appear relevant in thinking about the settlement of the Indo-Pacific from west to east. …

The new Chinese migration flows to Africa

Abstract: The last ten years have seen important migratory movements from China towards Africa. The phenomenon is not well known, but comparing different sources reveals three kinds of migrations: a labor mi...

The Influence of Migration on Origin Communities: Insights from Polish Migrations to the West

Abstract: This article sheds light on the impact of migration on origin communities by focusing on two case studies in different regions in Poland. Besides the economic consequences, the social and cultural consequences of migration for community cohesion and the lives of its members are highlighted, with reference to an emerging culture of migration in the communities. By presenting different migration patterns prevalent before and after Poland's accession to the European Union, the article demonstrates the important differences caused by ‘visible migration’ and ‘hidden migration’ in the communities of origin, taking into account especially the temporal dimension.

Distress Seasonal Migration and its Impact on Children’s Education

Abstract: There are still many categories of children in India for whom adequate and appropriate strategies are not in place for their effective education. One such substantive category is children of seasonal migrants – a group which has not been on the radar screen of the government or development agencies. Distress seasonal migration is a growing phenomenon in almost all arid parts of India. Drought and lack of work in villages forces entire families to migrate for several months every year in search of work merely to survive. Children accompany their parents, and as a result drop-out rates go up. Migrants comprise the most vulnerable sections of society, and especially those that also belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe groups. There is no official data available on the scale of distress seasonal migration, but estimates put the numbers of migrants between 1 and 3 crore (10 to 30 million). The number of children involved in these migrations may range between 40 and 60 lakhs (4 to 6 million). Migration takes place to a range of industrial and agro-industrial sectors such as brick manufacture, salt making, sugar cane harvesting, stone quarrying, construction, plantations and fishing. This paper identifies major sectors and geographies with a high incidence of seasonal migration, and gives broad estimates of the numbers involved, especially the number of children between 0-14 years. It also outlines the nature and patterns of seasonal migration in different sectors, and how these annual migration cycles overlap with the annual school calendar. The discussion focuses on the difficulties that children face with schooling both in villages and at migration sites, and the conditions under which children drop out of schools, as well as the response or lack of response of local school systems to the education of migrant children in some areas. The paper also outlines the efforts made so far by government and NGOs to address these problems through alternative schooling, and provides recommendations for state and central governments in terms of policy and program interventions.

Researching international labor migration in asia

Abstract: This article focuses on research on international labor migration in Asia, a region marked by intense migration in the last four decades. The review covers migration research undertaken from the post-1970s to the present. The growing significance of international migration in the region has stimulated the production of evidence-based knowledge on Asian migration in Asia. This is indicated by the growing literature on migration-related questions, the development of research centers focused on migration, and the development of research networks in the region. Although migration research is thriving, future efforts should aim toward theory building and establishing the links between internal and international migration.

World Migration in the Age of Globalization: Policy Implications and Challenges

Abstract: Economic globalization has changed the nature and volume of world migration. The world migrant population reached 190 million in 2005, but migration tends to be from less developed to more developed regions. Changes in world migration are related to fundamental features of economic globalization, but also influenced by demographic transitions in immigrant-receiving societies. Declining fertility and population aging compel many advanced industrial countries to rely on immigration for growth in labour force and population, but the demand is largely for highly-skilled immigrants. Globalization produces contradictory tendencies, making it easier for highly-educated professionals to migrate while displacing unskilled workers in traditional economies. Immigrant- receiving countries are confronted with issues related to international migration, including the need to develop a long-term immigration policy to attract immigrants with substantial human capital and to strengthen security to bar the entry of unskilled migrants and asylum seekers. Competition amongst immigrant-receiving societies for highly-skilled workers is increasing. Future brain drain is likely to be multidirectional and the world community may be compelled to agree upon a universal framework under which, world migration could be regulated. lobalization has increased the interconnectedness of nation states, speeding up the flow of goods, services, ideas and people across national boundaries. There was international migration long before the age of globalization, but the speed, scope, complexity and volume of world migration under the global era are unprecedented. In 1980,