Migration pressures and immigration policies : new evidence on the selection of migrants

This paper aims to better understand emigration pressures in migrant sending countries by looking at the determinants of the propensity to migrate at the individual level. The analysis is based on survey data from Albania, Moldova, Egypt and Tunisia collected by the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2006. Within this context the study focuses on: (i) the self-selection of migrants in terms of skills; and (ii) the impact of selective immigration policies on the migration process. The paper finds that migration pressures, or the intent to migrate, are not subject to any self-selection. However, immigration policies exert a strong out-selection that is likely part of the reasons why positive selection is found in many studies. Further, the study confirms that the European Union (EU) attracts comparatively lower skilled migrants than other destinations.Population Policies,Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement,Human Migrations&Resettlements,International Migration,Gender and Development

Definitions, good practices, and global estimates on the status of social protection for international migrants

This paper analyzes the issue of social protection for migrants by looking at formal and informal social protection provisions. In particular, it presents the latest global data on the social protection status on migrants, including undocumented migrants. The paper gives special attention to lower-income countries drawing upon recent studies from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It finds that migrants in poorer countries have very limited access to formal social protection such as social security systems, and that the legal social protection frameworks are far from making benefits portable. Rather, migrants have to rely on informal social protection, and it is often migration itself that constitutes a form of social protection for migrants and their families. This means that making migration safer for low-income migrants is vital to allow migrants to fully benefit from their migration experience and to ultimately enhance their social protection.Population Policies,,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Emerging Markets,International Migration

Internationale Migration Hochqualifizierter Arbeitskräfte aus Europäischer Sicht

This thesis contributes to the research in highly skilled migration and takes special interest in questions and concerns of the European Union. The research will look at the causes of migration and what factors cause the selection of migrants. In particular, it will present three empirical studies. The first analyzes the role of foreign education in the migration and subsequent integration processes. It investigates if the place of education has a uniform effect on migrants or whether there are selectivity differentials by place of education. The second studies the impact of selective migration policies and their ability to effectively over-ride existing migration patterns. As it becomes clear that there are persistent factors that reinforce migration patterns that have evolved over the past decades, the third study analyzes network effects and presents evidence of a multiplier effect that is new to the migration literature. It is evident that these questions are particularly relevant to the European Union (EU), which is a major player in international migration. The EU receives relatively low skilled immigrants compared to other major migrant destinations like the US, Canada and Australia, and migrant networks have reinforced these patterns due to strong historical linkages with many sending regions. At the same time, the EU looses large numbers of highly skilled people to other countries, particularly the US. This paradox, which taken to an extreme, would systematically reduce the relative skills level of workers in Europe, makes the EU an interesting subject for the study of highly skilled migration. Despite the evident link between the parts of this thesis, the chapters comprise papers that are independent from each other. The first paper (chapter 2) analyzes EU emigrants and looks at their assimilation patterns in the US labor market. The main questions asked regard their integration and performance. Does the EU loose its best and brightest? How transferable is their education to the US labor market? Is it valued internationally? Do EU educated immigrants perform differently than US educated EU immigrants? Are there differences in their performance resulting from the particular EU country they obtained their education in? The answers to these questions help the EU to better understand its emigration of skilled personnel. They shed more light on the characteristics of these emigrants, show how European education is evaluated internationally and contribute new insights on the transferability of foreign skills. The findings stress the high performance of some emigrants from some countries while others perform at comparatively lower levels. Overall, the study points out that the European education is well valued internationally and effort should concentrate on keeping these skilled people in the European labor market. The second paper (chapter 3) analyzes whether selective immigration policies are in fact effective in channeling skilled migration and if they can compensate for lost human capital in the EU. The analysis is based on new data from four EU neighboring countries, which is unique in the detail that it offers regarding the migration process. The study sheds light on determinants of migration pressures, the impact of immigration policies, the selection of immigrants and the determinants of destination choice. The findings confirm that one has to distinguish between self-selection and out-selection in order to understand the full selection process of migrants. The results stress that while selective immigration policies may indeed have their desired impact, the EU should nevertheless remain moderate in its expectations because other factors that reinforce migration, e.g. networks, may not be offset sufficiently by such policies. The third paper (chapter 4) picks up the dynamics of networks in migration flows by testing a previously disregarded diaspora externality, that is the effect of a counter-diaspora on migration flows. A theoretical model is developed and empirically tested based on new bilateral data, which allows analyzing immigrants moving to and within OECD, EU27 and EU candidate countries. The findings show evidence of significant counter-migration effects at the international level. Subsequently, the empirical estimates of the migration multipliers of diaspora and counter-diaspora serve to simulate the long run impact of exogenous shocks on migration flows. The net effect of the shock on the long run volume of bilateral net emigration clearly depends on the relative size of diaspora and counter-diaspora. For some countries a shock can reverse the pattern of migration from net emigration to net immigration, this is especially the case for attractive countries, receiving many migrants from abroad (United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Luxembourg or Switzerland).Diese Dissertation befasst sich mit dem Thema internationale Migration hochqualifizierter Arbeitskräfte und behandelt Fragestellungen, die insbesondere relevant für die Europäische Union sind. Hauptanliegen ist dabei die Ursachen von Migration und Faktoren, welche Selektion von Migranten hervorrufen, zu analysieren. Nach einer ausführlichen Einführung in das Thema werden drei empirische Studien präsentiert. Die erste Studie analysiert europäische Auswanderer in den USA und behandelt die Rolle ausländischer Hochschulausbildung im Migrations- und Integrationsprozess. Es wird untersucht, ob das Land der Ausbildung einen einheitlich Effekt auf die Integration in den amerikanischen Arbeitsmarkt hat oder ob es Unterschiede aufgrund des Ausbildungslandes gibt. Die Ergebnisse erlauben Rückschlüsse auf die internationale Evaluierung europäischer Hochschulausbildung. Die zweite Studie analysiert den Einfluss selektiver Immigrationspolitik und ihre Eignung bestehende Migrationsmuster zu verändern. Migrationsdruck, Selektion und Determinanten in der Wahl des Ziellandes werden analysiert. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen eine Selektion durch Immigrationspolitik, machen aber deutlich, dass die Wirkung dieser Politik in der EU eher eingeschränkt ist, da andere Faktoren, wie zum Beispiel Netzwerkeffekte, die bestehenden Migrationsstrukturen verstärken. Die dritte Studie analysiert entsprechend Netzwerk- bzw. Diasporaeffekte. Es wird ein Model entwickelt, mit dem sich der Effekt einer Gegen-Diaspora auf Migrationsströme analysieren lässt—bisher wurden in der Literatur nur traditionelle Diasporaeffekte behandelt. Die geschätzten Migrationsmultiplikatoren werden zur Simulation von Migrationsschocks verwendet. Die behandelten Fragen sind von besonderer Bedeutung für die EU vor allem deshalb, weil die EU vergleichsweise gering qualifizierte Immigranten beherbergt, und gleichzeitig viele hochqualifizierte Personen an andere Länder und vor allem an die USA verliert. Dieser Zustand führt im Extremfall dazu, dass sich in der EU das Humankapital systematisch reduziert. Die Arbeit trägt zur Analyse dieser Situation bei und entwickelt politikrelevante Implikation aus den Ergebnissen der einzelnen Studien, welche in den einzelnen Studien sowie in einer gemeinsamen Schlussfolgerung gezeigt werden

Social Security Regimes, Global Estimates, and Good Practices: The Status of Social Protection for International Migrants

Summary Access to social protection differs widely amongst international migrants. Using new global data on bilateral migrant stocks, social security law, and bilateral social security agreements, we quantify the status of social protection of international migrants as belonging to one of four different regimes. Results suggest that approximately one quarter of global migrants fall under the most favorable regime, but these are largely north-north migrants. On the other hand, migrants from developing countries, in particular south-south migrants, are in a far less favorable position, having to depend largely on informal networks and self insurance as a way of minimizing risk.migration social protection global portability access labor

Options to enhance the impact of AKST on development and sustainability goals

The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD) looks realistically at how we could effectively use agriculture/AKST to help us meet development and sustainability goals. An unprecedented three-year collaborative effort, the IAASTD involved more than 400 authors in 110 countries and cost more than $11 million. It reports on the advances and setbacks of the past fifty years and offers options for the next fifty years. The results of the project are contained in seven reports: a Global Report, five regional Sub-Global Assessments, and a Synthesis Report. The Global Report gives the key findings of the Assessment, and the five Sub-Global Assessments address regional challenges. The volumes present options for action. All of the reports have been extensively peer-reviewed by governments and experts and all have been approved by a panel of participating governments. The Sub-Global Assessments all utilize a similar and consistent framework: examining and reporting on the impacts of AKST on hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and environmental/social sustainability. The IAASTD was initiated by the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, with support from the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and other sponsors. Its goal is to analyze the potential of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST) for reducing hunger and poverty, improving rural livelihoods, and working toward environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development