L11. Global Economy Mechanisms - International Labour Flows PDF

Global economy mechanisms International flows of the labour force Structure of the lecture International migration – concept, causes and characteristics International migration – short history Remittances The profile of the contemporary emigrant International migration – concept, causes a...

Global economy mechanisms International flows of the labour force Structure of the lecture International migration – concept, causes and characteristics International migration – short history Remittances The profile of the contemporary emigrant International migration – concept, causes and characteristics (1) Concept of international migrant (UNDESA 1998) : any person who changes his or her country of usual residence, and Short-term migrants Long term migrants thus crosses an international border UN (2017) : a person who is living in a country other than his or her country of birth Individuals who move to a Individuals who move to country other than their a country other than country their usual residence for of usual residence for a period at least a year (so that the of at least three months, but destination country less than twelve months, becomes their new except where the movement is country of usual for the purpose of recreation, residence). Internal migrant holiday, visits to friends or Person who changes his or her relatives etc. residence, but stays within the boundaries of his or her country of residence International migration – concept, causes and characteristics (2) q Length of time: short-term and long- term migration as well as temporary and permanent migration; q Length of distance: short-distance and long-distance migration; q Spatial approach: local level, regional level, national level and international level; q Rural urban nature of the area: rural to rural; rural to urban; urban to rural and urban to urban; q Decision making approach: voluntary migration, forced migration and impelled migration; q Number: individual or mass migration; q Occupational approach: workers move from one occupation to another.  International migration – concept, causes and characteristics (3) q In 2017, over 60 per cent of all International migrants, 1990–2017 international migrants live in Asia (80 million) or Europe (78 million). q In 2017, India was the largest country of 247.585.744 257.715.425 origin of international migrants (17 million), followed by Mexico (13 220.019.266 million). 190.531.600 q In 2017, the median age of international 172.604.257 152.542.373 160.700.028 migrants worldwide was 39 years, a slight increase from 38 years in 2000. q The share of female migrants fell from 49 per cent in 2000 to 48 per cent in 2017. Female migrants outnumber male migrants in Europe, Northern America, 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2017 Oceania and Latin America and the Caribbean. Source: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimates17.shtml  International migration – concept, causes and characteristics (4) q Immigration surged on the list of top concerns of European q The regional approach – EU citizens since 2014, peaking at the end of 2015, at the height Most important issues of concern that the EU is of the humanitarian crisis, when 58% of Europeans said that facing, 2011-2019 immigration was the most important issue facing the EU. Today, it is second only to terrorism. 2011 (%) 2019 ( %) q While Europe may have partially regained control over the Terrorism (7) Climate change (24) situation today (with irregular sea arrivals dropping to 360,000 in 2016 and to 160,000 in 2017), the perception of poorly Economic situation (59) Economic situation (18) managed migration and of a limited success at integrating Immigration (9) Immigration (34) migrants and refugees at national and local levels persists. q Growing concern about immigration cannot only be explained Unemployment (26) Terrorism (15) by the increased numbers of people migrating to Europe. The state of Member The state of Member Research suggests that fears are often exaggerated by States' public finances States' public finances widespread misperceptions regarding actual figures and facts. (31) (15) On average, people overestimate the size of immigrant populations living in their country, often by a wide margin.  International migration – Short history The 80‘s characterized by a slight increase on the The 90‘s characterized by At the beginning of 2010, Temporary migration of inflows of workers into the fail of the communist One important event in almost 32, 5 mil. foreign labour force accentuated the OECD countries, regime and the Western the history of migration citizens were living across facilitated by the countries confronted with EU-27. The percentage of by the end of '50 and the was the financial crisis beginning of '60 agreements established massive flows of emerged in 2007. foreign citizens vary from within the member states individuals coming from 43% in Luxembourg to of the EU regarding the ex-communist countries. 1% in Romania. free movement of people.  Remittances Def: household income from foreign economies arising mainly from the temporary or permanent movement of people to those economies Overall, monetary transfers from migrant workers and others to all countries worldwide, including high-income countries, grew by 7.4 per cent to USD 633 billion in 2017, from USD 589 billion in 2016. Global remittances were projected to increase by another 10.3 per cent in 2018 and were later estimated to have increased by 9 per cent (Raatha et al, 2019) Low impact of the financial crisis from 2008 on remittances: at the end of 2009 a slight decrease of 5,5% compared to 2007; Countries with the highest rate of remittances in 2010: India $55 bill.; China $51 bill; Mexico $22,6 bill; France $15,9 bill; Romania 4,5 $ bill. Remittances ≠ substitute of FDI or official development assistance: In 2009 in the Republic of Moldova remittances counted for 23% of its GDP. Advantages / disadvantages of remittances + Reduce poverty - May cause inflation + Stimulate economic growth if they are - Decrease the rate of participation of invested in productive activities the labour force + Increase the standard of living - Impact of the exchange rate and the price system  The profile of the contemporary emigrant The migration of the qualified labour force – more visible after 1970 Key factors for successfully attracting talent to the regions – Quality of life, intended as affordability and availability of housing, cost of living, quality of the education system and the availability of infrastructure, leisure activities (e.g. culture), social life and a healthcare system. – Perception of the region from the outside (i.e. reputation and image). – The existence of a marketing or branding strategy that highlights the information of interest to the talent targeted. – Labour conditions, intended as career opportunities and support for business development (e.g. start-up incubators and office facilities). – Availability and accessibility of information on the above factors. This is particularly important for facilitating cross border labour mobility between neighboring regions. – Availability of ‘welcoming services’ aimed at facilitating the relocation of talent attracted to the region. A one-stop shop is usually the option preferred by international migrants. Source: European Committe eof the Regions, Addressing brain drain: SEDEC The local and regional dimension, 2018  The profile of the contemporary emigrant The brain – drain effect: ”refers to the The brain – gain effect: ” a region’s gain international transfer of human capital of individuals with high skills and/or resources, and it applies mainly to the competencies (workers/students) due to migration of highly educated individuals permanent immigration”. from developing to developed countries”. Pro Cons A brain drain stimulates education, induces remittance flows, A brain drain may cause fiscal losses reduces international transaction costs, and generates benefits in source countries from both returnees and the diaspora abroad. Appropriate policy adjustments, which depend on the Above a certain level, brain drain reduces the stock of human characteristics and policy objectives of the source country, can help capital and induces occupational distortions. to maximize the gains or minimize the costs of the brain drain Source: https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/31/pdfs/brain-drain-from-developing-countries.pdf  The profile of the contemporary emigrant Ø Main arguments in favour of migration of international students: Ø The opportunity to extend their cultural and intellectual horizon; Ø Low training in their origin country; Ø The interest in a certain field; Ø The wide range of academic programmes; Ø The prestige of top foreign universities and the diversity of school taxes.  The profile of the contemporary emigrant What to international students Number of students studying abroad in 2013 study abroad? 1 China 712157 § In 2007 one in four 2 India 181872 3 Germany 119123 students, meaning more than 23% were studying Republic of Korea 116942 Business and 4 5 France 84059 Administration programs; Saudi Arabia 73548 § 15 % Biology, chemistry, 6 medicine; United States of America 60292 § 14,4% Engineering, 7 Manufacturing and 8 Malaysia 56260 Construction; Viet Nam 53546 § 13,9 % Humanities and 9 Arts 10 Nigeria 52066 § 2% Services Source: UnDATA, http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=UNESCO&f=series%3AED_FSOABS Interesting fact: The increase in the percentage of international students of females – 46 % in 1999 compared to 49 % in 2007.  Demographic transition theory A generalized description of the changing pattern of mortality, fertility and growth rate. Stages: 1. pre-transition – high birth* rates – Malthusian theory – until the 18th century. 2. early transition – the mortality rate begins to fall – the birth rates remain high – population grows rapidly. 3. late transition – the birth rate begins to decline –the rate of population growth declines. 4. post-transition – low birth rate and low death rate. 5. speculative – impact on the environment????  The Environmental Kuznets curve The EKC concept emerged in the early 1990s with Grossman and Krueger’s (1991). The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is a hypothesized relationship between various indicators of environmental degradation and income per capita. In the early stages of economic growth degradation and pollution increase, but beyond some level of income per capita, which will vary for different indicators, the trend reverses, so that at high income levels economic growth leads to environmental improvement. This implies that the environmental impact indicator is an inverted U-shaped function of income per capita. Stern, D. 2004, ”The Rise and Fall of the Environmental Kuznets Curve”, World Development Vol. 32, No. 8, pp. 1419–1439.  Questions? Opinions / Suggestions? Thank you for all your effort this semester….