Table Of Contenti
Causes and Consequences
of Global Migration
ii
iii
Causes and Consequences
of Global Migration
Joakim Ruist
iv
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2021
by ANTHEM PRESS
75– 76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
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Copyright © Joakim Ruist 2021
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020952826
ISBN- 13: 978- 1- 78527- 677- 4 (Hbk)
ISBN- 10: 1- 78527- 677- 8 (Hbk)
Cover image: Rebekah Zemansky/Shutterstock.com
This title is also available as an e- book.
v
CONTENTS
List of Figures vii
List of Tables xi
1. What and Why 1
2. 180 Years of Migration 7
Background and migration before 1840 8
1840– 1930: Migration to America 9
1930 until today: First lower migration, then rising 18
Migration and migrants in the West today 39
Final words: The importance of migration 41
3. Who Migrate? 43
How well-i nformed are migration decisions? 43
Who have the most to gain from migrating? 46
Who remain in the destination country? 65
Final words 67
4. Migrants’ Incomes in Receiving Countries 69
Variation across sending and receiving countries 69
Variation in income developments over time 77
Refugees 82
Descendants of immigrants 87
Final words 93
5. Economic Consequences in Receiving Countries 95
Consequences for labor markets 96
Consequences for public finances 112
6. Consequences for Social Cohesion 123
Economic inequality 125
Ethnic diversity 130
Diversity and cohesion 139
Attitudes on immigration policy 145
Final words 152
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vi CONTENTS
7. Consequences for Poorer Sending Countries 153
Remittances 155
Brain drain? 163
Final words 167
8. Future Migration 169
Recent trends 170
Developments in underlying driving forces 173
How effectively can migration be controlled? 176
The global quest for talent 180
Self- regulating legal migration 183
Final words— really 184
References 189
Index 195
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FIGURES
2.1 Migration from Europe to the United States per decade. 11
2.2 Total refugee immigration in 2008– 16 in Western countries. 25
2.3 Foreign- born population shares 1970 in Western Europe and four
non- European countries. 28
2.4 Average weekly wages among 18–64- year- old immigrants who
have been in the United States for 6– 10 years. 35
2.5 Foreign- born population shares 2017 in Western Europe and five
non- European countries. 40
2.6 Average annual immigration in Western Europe in 2011– 15. 41
3.1 The correlation between a country’s distance and emigration rate
to the United States. 48
3.2 The correlation between GDP per capita and the accumulated
emigration rate to 20 OECD countries in 2010. 50
3.3 Distribution of age at migration among immigrants from Latin
America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa in the United States. 51
3.4 Population shares aged 0– 14 years per region 1970,
1995 and 2015. 52
3.5 The correlation between the changes over time in the share of
children in the population and the emigration rate to the United
States. 53
3.6 Share of all living people born in a country, who lived in one of
20 OECD countries in 2010. 55
3.7 Share of college- educated among all 20– 34- year- olds in home
country 1990. 57
3.8 Share of all EU applications submitted in Sweden, per time
period and country of origin. 63
4.1 Employment rates among 15–64-year-old immigrants per country
in 2016. 70
4.2 The correlation between immigrants’ employment in 2016
relative to natives’, and the percentage share of immigrants being
recently arrived (2011– 16) refugees. 71
viii
viii FIGURES
4.3 Average annual labor incomes 2012– 15 (dollars) among
30–50-year-old immigrants in the United States, who have been
in the country for 6– 10 years. 72
4.4 Average annual labor incomes in 2007 (kronor) among
30– 50- year- old immigrants in Sweden, who have been in the
country for 6– 10 years. 73
4.5 Estimated average entry wages of male 25–29-year-old newly
arrived immigrants with college degrees in Australia, Canada and
the United States. 76
4.6 Average annual labor incomes, by country of origin, for men
born in 1968– 78 who migrated to the United States
in 2002– 3. 78
4.7 Average annual labor incomes, by country of origin, for women
born in 1968– 78 who migrated to the United States
in 2002– 3. 79
4.8 Average annual labor incomes, by country of origin, for men
born in 1951– 61 who migrated to the United States
in 1985– 86. 80
4.9 Average annual labor incomes, by country of origin, for women
born in 1951– 61 who migrated to the United States
in 1985– 86. 81
4.10 Average labor incomes in 2016, by years since immigration and
origin for US immigrants born in 1976– 96. 82
4.11 Percentage shares living in a household that received food
stamps in 2016, by years since immigration and origin, for US
immigrants born in 1976– 96. 83
4.12 Employment rates by years since immigration, among immigrants
in Europe. 84
4.13 Average incomes per years since immigration, for male refugees
who immigrated to Sweden in 1992– 96, at ages 20– 50 years. 85
4.14 Average incomes per years since immigration, for female refugees
who immigrated to Sweden in 1992– 96, at ages 20– 50 years. 86
4.15 Average male labor incomes for immigrants in 1979, and native
children of immigrants in 2008– 12. 88
4.16 Average female labor incomes for immigrants in 1979, and native
children of immigrants in 2008– 12. 90
4.17 Average annual incomes for 25–60- year- old native men in the
United States in 2004– 13, by ancestry. 91
4.18 Average occupational prestige scores, by country of origin, for
immigrant men in the United States in 1930, and approximately
for their male descendants in 2005–14. 92
