Labor Migration - Research Paper Example

Labor Migration College: Labor Migration Labor migration is the movement of people across the borders of foreign countries due to employment purposes. Labor migration comprises both physical movement in terms of space and time. Therefore, the process contains both the sending areas, the routes used for migration and the receiving areas. Sending areas are the countries of origin where laborers migrate from. Such are defined by their geographical location. Routes of migration are the countries to be accessed by the migrating labors while on their way to their desired destination. Lastly, receiving areas are the countries in which the labors are headed to. These are the countries that laborers have selected to work in. There are three different types of labor migration and are dependent on the motivation of immigrants. These are enforced migration, voluntary migration and distress migration. Enforced migration is the kind of migration that is decided and planned by some external powers. An example of enforced migration is a resettlement program that is imposed by a government. Voluntary labor migration is a result of the outcome of decisions made by migrating individuals. It can be migration for purposes of labor or due to marriage. Distress migration is the migration of multitude as a result of deprivation. In this case, a decision for one to migrate is reached as a way of escaping an environment that no longer promises signs of survival. From the above analysis, labor migration is not just an occurrence of the less developed states but is a global phenomenon. Apart from the above three factors of migration, laborers also migrate for other various factors. There are many pulls and push factors for migration. Such factors can be either economic or non-economic. Change of demography and labor market is examples of pull factors. This is usually experienced in most of the industrialized countries that require numerous workforces. The push factors include; unemployment in less developed states, availability of inter-county networks that are family based and the culture or history of a given society. People always migrate in search of better living standards (Lipton, 2010).). Labor migration has increased in the recent years since the migration procedure has been made easier unlike in the earlier days. The following are some of the main reasons that contribute to the migration of labors. Quench for better incomes; this is one of the main pull factors of labor migration. People tend to move from the sending country to the receiving country due to the difference in their salaries. The push factor in such a case is the high level of unemployment and poverty, making laborers opt for a different country. Escape from conflicts and calamities. Many laborers are forced to move from one state to another due to lack of peace in their country. Conflicts have caused mass migration in the 21st century whereby skilled workers leave their countries and take refuge in foreign countries. Reaching out for adventure and exploitation. Some skilled workers are likely to have an interest in visiting certain countries. When such opportunities appear, they do not hesitate. Many are the times that such people opt to remain in these countries and look for employment. Being lured by relatives or friends. Relatives or friends working in a given destination act as the informants on the emerging trends in labor. Such are the reasons for people moving from one state to another in search of employment. Economic-structural factors causing labor migration The main economic factor contributing to labor migration is changes in demography. Such changes are mainly experienced in growing economies. For instance, in the less developed and developing countries, there exists open economies and open industrialization. Such openness exposes the countries to high rates of unemployment that, on the other hand, leads to mass migration of laborers. Researchers have found out that a majority of labor sending countries are characterized by high levels of population as well as a huge growth of the labor force. On the other hand, due to demographical changes in the labor receiving countries, they experience an increase in labor shortage (Freeman, 2006). In addition, aging has added to the shortage of labor force in demographically transitioned states. According to a research conducted by the United Nations Population Division report (UNDP, 2000) concerning demography, some of the advanced countries such as Korea will have far reaching consequences due to population decline and aging population. Such consequences will force governments to reassess their economic, social and political policies. Notably, globalization has also contributed largely to labor migration. Due to globalization, labor migration procedures have been made easier. Also, the use of technology has enabled many educated laborers to work in other countries. For instance, a person in France can work online for a company in US. Economic Gains and Losses from Migration Labor migration has both gains and losses. According to Walmsley et al (2007), an estimation of 3% expansion in the overall global migration is likely to generate an increase in the world incomes than what complete liberalization of trade flows could generate. Such gains are as a result of the gaps that exist between the earnings of the poor and the rich states. For example, if the gap in earnings of unskilled workers between developing and developed countries is more than twentyfold, a transfer from the low to high earning setups yields higher gains. Therefore, in case such changes occur, migrants become the winners, and this is one gain of labor migration (Walmsley, Ahmed & Parsons, 2007). On the other hand, commercialization of migration processes has resulted in increased smuggling in the migration business. Legally, agents are supposed to aid migrants with accessing visas and also getting overseas jobs. However, the increase in number of smugglers has led to hiked fees intended to bring illegal migrants to borders (Berry, & Soligo, 2009). Similarly, intermediaries at the money transfer offices have resulted to charging high rates, which has discouraged people from migrating to other countries. Despite the loss on the side of the countries, migrants entering developed states still get their gain. The Impact of Labor Migration on Receiving Countries. A number of researchers have indicated that the impact of labor migration on arriving in their host countries is dependent on a number of factors. In countries with flexible wages, added labor supply reduces the wages of employees in the same education bracket. However, in countries with less flexible wages, the impact is only felt in the high employment jobs (Vertovec, 2002). Notably, the magnitude in both flexible and less flexible states is seen to be relatively insignificant. Another impact of labor migration on receiving states is that it leads to a mix of industrial activities in such countries. Receiving countries are forced to adapt the incoming group’s methods of work. For example, a number of labor intensive forms of agriculture would not have existed in European Union states as well as US if migrants were not allowed to cross the country’s borders (Straubhaar, 2008). Secondly, migrants bring about fiscal balance to the host country. This does not depend on whether they are employed or not, they pay taxes or they do not. Due to this reason, some high-income nations have opted to consider the potential for migration as a way of resolving the problem of supporting the ageing population. Another migration effect is that immigrants accelerate the technical progress of an economy. A research conducted in US in 2000 showed that more than 35% of scientists and engineers that were Ph.D. holders were foreigners. However, no clear record of their contribution towards the technical progress of the country was noted (Berry, & Soligo, 2009). On the other hand, researchers have hypothesized that the concentration of skilled works in a single region leads to high productivity as well as pay adjustments of every laborer. Therefore, movement of well-skilled workers and professionals may result in the rise in the productivity of their native workmates. Impacts of Labor Migration to Sending Countries Labor migration does impact not only the receiving states but also the sending states. The reason is that those left behind have to fill the gap that has been left by the migrating laborers. Like in the receiving states, the impacts on the sending states are both positive and negative. The main positive impact of labor migration is that remittances are viewed by most governments as saving the country from workers migrating to outside countries. For instance, those that remain in the developing countries have the advantage of developing as the countries develop. A more encouraging fact is that those laborers that remain in the developing countries serve as the greatest source of financial inflow (Kumar, 2014). This follows foreign direct investment that earns a country the highest financial inflow. Other than the states inflows from remittances, there are other positive impacts of labor migration to sending states as follows; remittances acts as a country’s source of support in times of crisis. At most times, they are the source of income and foreign exchange to a particular country. Notably, their efforts lead to increased foreign income since they contribute towards domestic investment. It is this domestic investment that lead to improvement in economic growth. The negative impact of labor migration to sending countries is that it results in “brain drain.” Brain drain leads to a country’s highly skilled labors migrating to other states leaving their country with a deficiency of skilled labor (Taylor, 2009). Also, migration of parents leaving children at home has contributed to breaking of family cohesion. Brain drain leaves less correlation between the availability of well-educated society and different aspects of the society’s civic life. In addition, emigration of skilled labor affects the home market in a significant manner. For instance, it can result in tightening of home labor markets by either induced rocketing wages or less underemployment. Also, the migration of skilled workers leaves room for the less skilled personnel’s to take their positions. This, on the other hand, may not go well with a state development. This is because every state requires highly trained professionals to ensure sustainable growth and development. In conclusion, it is clear that labor migration is bound to take place in any state. It mostly occurs in developing states where skilled workers opt to migrate to developed states due to the availability of attractive pay. However, it can also happen in less developed states whereby highly skilled professional move to developing states to ensure development has taken place. Therefore, labor migration is two-way traffic. References Berry, R. A., & Soligo, R. (2009). Some welfare aspects of international migration. The Journal of Political Economy, 778-794. Freeman, R. B. (2006). People flows in globalization (No. w12315). National Bureau of Economic Research. Kumar, S. K. (2014). International Labor Migration. India Migration Report 2012: Global Financial Crisis, Migration and Remittances, 303. Lipton, M. (2010). Migration from rural areas of poor countries: the impact on rural productivity and income distribution. World development, 8(1), 1-24. Straubhaar, T. (2008). International labor migration within a common market: some aspects of EC experience. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 27(1), 45-62. Taylor, E. J. (2009). The new economics of labor migration and the role of remittances in the migration process. International migration, 37(1), 63-88. Vertovec, S. (2002). Transnational networks and skilled labor migration (pp. 1-15). University of Oxford. Transnational Communities Programme. Walmsley, T. L., Ahmed, S. A., & Parsons, C. R. (2007). A global bilateral migration data base: skilled labor, wages and remittances. West Lafayette, IN: Center for Global Trade Analysis. Read More