Global Economy B: Topic 4 Part 1 - Economics of Immigration and Cultural Diversity

Question 1

Describe & explain who a migrant is

Answer 1

Very broadly any person who lives temporarily or
permanently in a country where he or she was not born”
(United Nations)
* Many ways to interpret the term ‘immigrant’. Migrants in
datasets:
1. Country of birth
2. Nationality
3. Length of stay (typically 12 months+)
4. Persons who are subject to immigration controls

Question 2

Describe & explain the state of world of immigrants right now

Answer 2

• The number of international migrants reached 281 million
  – Record high!
• One of out of every 33 persons in the world, and ~10% of the population in
  OECD countries is a migrant (OECD, 2018)
• In the 20th century, fuelled by migration, (UN, 2015)
  – the global urban population grew 12.7 times
  – while, the world population increased by 4 times.
  – this difference affects economic endowment of the urban population
• Immigrants cluster!
• Most of the world’s migrants live in a handful of countries.
  – In 2015, 67% of all international migrants in the world were living in just
  twenty countries.
  – In rank order: US (47 million); Germany (12 million); Russia (12 million); Saudi
  Arabia (12 million); UK (8 million)
• Women migrate, too!
  – Women constitute about slightly less than half of all international
  migrants worldwide.
• Immigrants are young!
  – The median age for international migrants is 39, while mainly in the
  southern-hemisphere they are even younger
  – E.g. US(38); Germany(47); Russia(40); Saudi Arabia(27.5); UK(40)
  (Source: CIA factbook, 2017)
• People admire for better living!
  – Most migrants originate from middle-income countries and
  majority of these live in high-income countries
• 58% of the total population are of a working age (16-65) whereas 72% of international migrants are of working age AS WELL AS having a heavile left-skewed distribution (most of those 72% are young as well) (UN, 2015)

Question 3

What does (Bellini et al, 2018)’s heat map of Europe show us about immigration

Answer 3

Between 1991 and 2001immigration has grown in area over Europe, where growth has occurred most: in countries east of Germany, Italy and Mediteranean-side of Spain

Question 4

Describe the characteristics of emigrants in East-West Migration

Answer 4

• Fall of Berlin wall, and East-West influx of high skilled workers of CEECs
  (Nov 1989)
• Family unifications particularly in Germany, Austria and other EU countries
• Balkan wars (1991-1995); asylum seekers
• Contracted workers between UK/Ireland and Poland
• Illegal migration from Northern Africa
  e.g. i) According to Rhode (1991) the emigration of doctors from Poland in the
  early 1980s led to a regional undersupply.
  ii) Wolburg (1997): Outflow of thousands of scientists, PhD students and
  engineers and academics from CEECs
• 2004 enlargement of the EU further reinforced direction of these flows

Question 5

According to (Eurostat, 2017) which countries have the by far highest number of immigrants per 1000 inhabitants?

Answer 5

Malta, Luxembourg and Iceland

Question 6

Describe (Munz, 2007)’s table of the skill distribution of the immigration stock in Europe

Answer 6

• The high skilled ratio of foreign-born population:native population is 25.8:24.3
• Medium-skill…