What is it about?
As the historical evidence points out, migration could be regarded as the process which connects the periphery to the core, revealing the most attractive regions in terms of opportunities. Along with development, emigration was shown to follow an upside down ‘U’ shaped pattern, being overreached by immigration, while a region changes its migration profile from emigration to immigration. Over the recent history, starting with the Northern and Western Europe and following with Southern Europe, each of these regions followed a migration transition path. Against this background, this study aims at testing whether Eastern Europe is heading to the same migration transition pattern as the South and turn into a new migration centre.
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Why is it important?
The study provides a more comprehensive understanding of how is migration interacting with the development processes, in a time when migration is being perceived as one of the biggest threats that the EU is facing. The findings revealed that unemployment, income, urbanisation level, labour segmentation and active share proved to be relevant in explaining net migration balance evolution regional level, therefore, explaining the migration transition shifts. Furthermore, migration flows were proven to be more sensitive to the transition drivers in the Eastern compared to Southern European regions. The recent refugee crisis has proven that the newer Member States in Eastern Europe are not yet prepared to handle large migration inflows and that their policies for integrating migrants are only halfway favourable. However, designing friendlier migration policies and providing a proper environment, prone to development, may help them to also capitalize the advantage given by the proximity to the EU’s Eastern borders. Specifically, they could benefit from external migration flows in order to turn their net migration balance positive
Perspectives
Under the last years’ refugee inflows, immigration is currently being considered one of the most important concerns at European Union level. The recent increase in restrictive control policies such as building border fences or expulsions is fuelling perceptions of migration as a threat, by changing population attitudes toward immigration. For instance, the EU low-skilled immigration threat has been one of the key issues of the Brexit campaign. Consequently, the recent backlash against migration calls for further research to advance understanding of its drivers and wide effects.
Cristian Incaltarau
Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Is Eastern Europe Following the Same Transition Model as the South? A Regional Analysis of the Main Migration Transition Drivers, August 2017, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/978-1-78714-495-820171007.
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