Migration Research at CEPR

Migration began to emerge as a major policy issue in Europe during the 1980s, and since then, CEPR has played a leading role in research on the linkages between migration and economic integration, with particular reference to integration in Europe and EU enlargement and accession; and on the implications of increased migration for social policy and social cohesion in Europe. The Centre responded to concerns over migration by bringing together, in the early 1990s, a network of European researchers on migration, led by Klaus Zimmerman and Riccardo Faini. This network, involving 50 researchers from across Europe, emphasised on the one hand the microeconomic, labour market and social policy aspects of migration and on the other hand the interaction between migration and other aspects of regional integration, with close collaboration between the two groups of researchers. The Centre has also played a leading role in the analysis of the regional aspects of European integration in the context of EU enlargement.

Studies of Migration and EU Enlargement

In addition, the Centre has been commissioned to carry out a number of studies of migration.

In 1999, Klaus F Zimmermann (IZA and CEPR) and Thomas Bauer (IZA and CEPR), for example, carried out an 'Assessment of possible migration pressure and its labour market impact following EU enlargement to central and eastern Europe' for the Department for Education and Employment in the United Kingdom. The study surveyed the available evidence for Western Europe and evaluated the potential problems in the European labour markets, especially in the UK and the core of continental Europe (Germany and Austria). First, the migration potential was evaluated. Second, the labour market impacts of such migration were studied. Finally the policy options for the European Union and the UK were outlined. The research provided a theoretical framework and a survey of the available empirical evidence, but also used econometric and mathematical methods and new survey data to provide new quantitative insights into migration in Europe. The authors find that in the short-run, EU enlargement is dominated by the problem of economic transition to a market economy in East and Central Europe, and from large income and unemployment differentials to the West - in spite of economic crisis there.

CEPR also played a key role in a pan-European study 'The Impact of the EU Enlargement On Employment and Labour Markets in the Member States' the study was written for the European Commission in 1998 and 1999. The study comprised (i) an in-depth analysis of the effects of the integration of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) into the European Union on employment, wage levels and income distribution and (ii) an evaluation of the policy options for the present EU member states and candidate countries for accession. The study involved labour economists, trade economists, and a team of migration experts, with broad experience in the examination of migration flows within the EU and between the EU and the CEECs and their implications of trade and migration on movements on wages, employment and income distribution.

In 2002, the Centre prepared, at the request of President Prodi, CEPR Policy Paper No.8 'Making Sense of Globalization: A Guide to the Economic Issues' that analysed how various institutions, including corporations, national governments and the many institutions of civil society, have responded or potentially could respond to these developments of Globalization. Though Globalization has many critics, the authors of the CEPR Report find that many of the charges levelled against globalization are misguided: there is a wealth of economic evidence that demonstrates that globalization brings great benefits as well as costs. It offers the opportunity for a higher rate of sustainable growth - growth that translates into longer, healthier lives and improved living standards.

CEPR publishes 700 Discussion Papers annually, many of which have examined issues relating to immigration.

Published 12th May 2005...

Immigration, Jobs and Wages: Theory, Evidence and Opinion
Christian Dustmann and Albrecht Glitz

£25 ISBN: 1 898128 87 1

Published 24th March 2005 by Oxford University Press and CEPR...

European Migration: What do We Know?
Klaus F Zimmermann
£65 ISBN Hardback: 0-19-925735-3
Available from Oxford University Press, www.oup.co.uk

Selected CEPR Discussion Papers on migration...

DP5055 Who is Against Immigration? A Cross-Country Investigation of Individual Attitudes Towards Immigration
Anna Maria Mayda

Abstract: This paper empirically analyzes both economic and non-economic determinants of attitudes towards immigrants, within and across countries. The two individual-level survey data sets used, covering a wide range of developed and developing countries, make it possible to test for interactive effects between individual characteristics and country-level attributes. In particular, trade and labour economics theories of labour markets predict that the correlation between pro-immigration attitudes and individual skill should be related to the skill composition of natives relative to immigrants in the destination country. Skilled individuals should favour immigration in countries where natives are more skilled than immigrants and oppose it in the other countries. Results based on both direct and indirect measures of the relative skill composition of natives to immigrants are consistent with these predictions. Individual skill and pro-immigration attitudes are positively correlated in countries where the skill composition of natives relative to immigrants is high. Individuals with higher levels of skill are more likely to be pro-immigration in high per capita GDP countries and less likely in low per capita GDP countries. Non-economic variables also appear to be correlated with immigration attitudes but they don't seem to alter significantly the results on the economic explanations.

DP5074 The 'Tampa' Effect. Australian Asylum Policy in International Perspective
Timothy J Hatton and Audrey Lim

DP4640 The Dynamic Impact of Immigration on Natives' Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Israel
Daniele Paserman and Sarit Cohn-Goldner

DP4603 Estimating the Return to Training and Occupational Experience: The Case of Female Immigrants
Zvi Eckstein and Sarit-Cohen-Goldner

DP4629 Mass Migration to Israel and Natives' Transitions from Employment
Daniele Paserman and Sarit Cohn-Goldner

DP4274 The Demand for High-Skilled Workers and Immigration Policy
Thomas Bauer and Astrid Kunze

DP4061 Immigration and Inter-Regional Mobility in the UK, 1982-2000
Timothy J Hatton and Massimiliano Tanni

DP4019 Explaining Trends in UK Immigration
Timothy J Hatton

DP3683 Doctors without Borders: The Returns to an Occupational License for Soviet Immigrant Physicians in Israel
Adriana Kugler and Robert M Sauer

DP3505 Herd Effects or Migration Networks? The Location Choice of Mexican Immigrants in the US
Ira Gang, Thomas Bauer and Gil S Epstein

DP3449 The Political Economy of EU Enlargement: Lessons from Switzerland
Jaime de Melo, Tobias Müller and Florence Miguet

DP3412 Labour Mobility of Immigrants: Training, Experience, Language and Opportunities
Zvi Eckstein and Sarit Cohn-Goldner

DP3028 The Dynamics of Immigrant Welfare and Labour Market Behaviour
Jörgen Hansen and Magnus Löfström

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