Effect of Immigration on Economy and Economic Growth - Coursework Example

ID number: Immigration Introduction Immigration is basically movement of people from one region to another region to live there in a permanent way. If people move to a new country just for a short visit then they are called tourists but if people go to a new region with the intension of living in that place then the people are called immigrants. Immigration occurs due to some unavoidable circumstances such as war, separation of country, political issues, family re-unification, natural disaster, better economic prosperity etc. People migrate from different parts of the world since the beginning of the history and immigration can be observed in different countries and regions like North America, Northern Asia etc. As per statistics this can be said that in the year 2009, almost 200 million people changed their resident country throughout the world. This number is almost 3 % of overall population in the world. Brief Analysis about Immigration Economic migrant refers to those persons who are moving from one region to another region for the purpose of seeking employment opportunities or for improving their financial condition. So this can be said that economic migrant are distinct in nature from the refugees. Many countries have restriction in the field of immigration and providing visa to the people. This will help to prohibit a person from entering into the other country. It is also helpful to protect the country and its economy from those persons who want to work without proper and valid work visa. China is an example of such kind of countries which completely stopped to grant citizenship for foreign migrants. Again violation of immigration law may be harmful for the people and government of that country can refuse their entry and force them to leave the country as soon as possible. Another term is used in the field of immigration which is called legal immigrant. The person enters in the new country for the purpose of being a permanent resident after getting clearance from the respective end. In this case the person is called as legal immigrant (Kleyn, 2-8). Effect of Immigration on Economy and Economic Growth Immigration can be defined as a powerful instrument for economic revitalization. If population of a country increases, then number of working labour force participants also will get increased. This will help to enhance the economic condition of that country. Again more number of workers will help to generate more consumers spending in the economy. Businesses will flourish in this stage and entrepreneurs will get more scope to expand their business activities. When industry attains the growth position then automatically economy of that country will achieve growth target which is good for the country and its people. The construction business also will reap the fruits of benefits as there will be huge demand for residential houses for the new entrants. Demand for goods and services will increase due to the additional population in the country. On the other hand supply of goods and services also will increase due to the availability of workers in the business, manufacturing, production and distribution fields. Availability of supply will help to reduce interest rates in the economy. Again this can be said that reform of immigration also can reduce the deficit in federal budget (Great Britain Parliament, House of Lords and Select Committee on Economic Affairs, 504-506). A developing country can get skilled labour which will help to achieve more growth in the global market scenario. Immigration reform has helped the US economy to grow additional 4.8 % over the last 20 years period. Again United Kingdom has achieved 3 % additional growth in its GDP due to immigration over the period of 1998 to 2005. Again some opposite scenarios also can be observed due to the immigration. The increasing level of migration in Scotland also impact in a negative way on the field of employment. The country is losing its effective labour force due to the migration activities and displacement of workers. Efficient and skilled labours are moving outside this country for getting more financial benefits and for that reason industry and economy are affected in a significant way (Morrow, 5-9). The GDP growth of this country has also declined from 9 % to 8.2 % due to the reduced supply of labour. Unemployment rate is also static at low level and for that reason the country is unable to increase the supply of work force from its existing population. So it is important for the government of this country to attract productive and skilled labour for achieving and maintaining more sustainable growth in the economy of Scotland. Benefits and Disadvantages of Immigration Discussing about the benefits of immigration this can be said that immigration can reduce the labour cost in the economy of a particular country. Many immigrants have come to United States for the purpose of employment from the neighbouring countries and from other continents. They are willing to work at comparatively lower wages than the permanent residents in U.S. Immigrant population also will help to create diversified workforce in the economy. But in this case anti discrimination laws should be implemented in the business field. This diversified workforce will generate more knowledge in the business as people are coming from different cultures and they have different perspective for doing a particular work in more improved way. A business can be expanded within and outside the country for immigrant culture and this scenario especially can be observed in United States. The value of marketing activities of a particular business can be increased by hiring immigrants in the organization. Cultural knowledge and diversity in languages will help to flourish business activities in other region. A company can get different ideas and views of its potential market from the diversified workforce of the organization (Borjas and Freeman, 12-15). According to those suggestions, management can develop a proper business plan to capture those markets and expand business from domestic market to international market. Again this can be said that immigrants bring changes and development in the society. They can help to increase the standard of living in a developing and under developed countries. The quality of life can significantly improve by the immigration activities. A country can get better opportunities to fulfil its goals by the immigrants. Again economy of that country will get younger workforce which will help in case of productivity. The pressure on resources and jobs are also reduced due to the immigrant population of a country. Apart from the benefits, few disadvantages are also there and these are faced by the government and general people of those countries due to immigration. Population density in a particular country is one of the biggest disadvantages in this case. If a country is already over populated then immigration will be a serious issue and to control the number of population government of that country should control the entrance of other country’s people in more effective and strong way. Otherwise unemployment rate will increase in that economy as well as government will be unable to provide required food and shelter for the additional population. Demand of goods and services will be more than supply and economy will turn around to worst situation. For this reason Japan and China are opposing the activities of immigration in their countries to save their economy as well as protect their present population. Over density in population may also arise political problems and cultural diversity will direct to destroy peaceful atmosphere in the country. Many conflicts can be raised for this cultural diversity and different religion which may turn into war, strike etc. National identity can be diluted due to the different cultures of immigrants. Again cost of services in some particular field will increase due to the immigration and these fields are especially health care and education. The country from where people are flying away also faces some disadvantages. Number of skilled labour will get reduced in that country which will hamper to grow the business activities and productive work. This situation can be observed in Scotland (Anderson, 119-122). Again the scenario of gender imbalances can be observed in these countries because most of the time men moves to the other countries for seeking employment opportunities and children and women are left in the home country. This has become a serious issue in the social life of that country. Conclusion At the part of conclusion this can be said that immigration has some positive and negative impacts on the countries, its economies and also in its social life. The trade policy of a particular country can be facilitated due to immigration. It helps to increase the number of skilled workforce and generate innovative ideas in the business. But on the other hand it helps to distribute national wealth in an unfair way and increase density of population in some countries which may affect the economies of those countries such as Japan, U.S. and China. Works Cited Anderson, Stuart. Immigration. California: ABC-CLIO. 2010. Print. Borjas, George and Freeman, Richard. Immigration and the Work Force: Economic Consequences for the United States and Source Areas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2007. Print. Great Britain Parliament, House of Lords and Select Committee on Economic Affairs. The Economic Impact of Immigration: 1st Report of Session 2007-08, Vol. 2: Evidence. London: The Stationery Office. 2008. Print. Kleyn, Tatyana. Immigration: The Ultimate Teen Guide. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. 2011. Print. Morrow, Robert. Immigration: Rich Diversity Or Social Burden?. Minnesota: Twenty-First Century Books. 2009. Print. Read More