Criss-Crossing Migration
The current perspective on the flow of people is almost exclusively focused on permanent migration from poorer to richer countries and on immigration policies in industrial countries. But international mobility of people should no longer be seen as...
Main Authors: | , |
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Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/07/18029114/criss-crossing-migration http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15899 |
Summary: | The current perspective on the flow of
people is almost exclusively focused on permanent migration
from poorer to richer countries and on immigration policies
in industrial countries. But international mobility of
people should no longer be seen as a one-time event or
one-way flow from South to North. The economic crisis has
accentuated the longer-term shift in location incentives for
people in industrial countries. As consumers, they could
obtain better and cheaper access to key services -- such as
care for the elderly, health, and education -- whose costs
at home are projected to increase in the future, threatening
standards of living. As workers, they could benefit from new
opportunities created by the shift in economic dynamism from
industrial to emerging countries. But subtle incentives to
stay at home, such as lack of portability of health
insurance and non-recognition of qualifications obtained
abroad, inhibit North-South mobility and need to be
addressed. Furthermore, if beneficiaries of movement abroad
exert countervailing power against those who support
immigration barriers at home, then that could lead to
greater inflows of people, boosting innovation and growth in
the North. Eventually, growing two-way flows of people could
create the possibility of a grand bargain to reduce
impediments to the movement of people at every stage in all
countries and help realize the full benefits of globalization. |
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