Kathleen%20Newland

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Migration and Development A New Policy Arena
for the Americas

• Kathleen Newland
• Migration Policy Institute

Presentation to the OAS Special Committee on
Migration Issues December 1, 2008
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Foreign-born in the US by Region of Birth, 1960
to 2006
0.0
0.6
0.0
0.7
4.1
3.3
3.4
4.1
6.3
1.3
2.4
2.0
Source 2006 American Community Survey, Census
2000 and Gibson, Campbell and Emily Lennon, US
Census Bureau, Working Paper No. 29, Historical
Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population
of the United States 1850 to 1990. Notes The
Other regions category includes Africa and
Oceania.
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Global Remittance Flows by Region, 1980 to 2007
Note Includes on formal remittance
flows. Source Development Prospects Group, World
Bank.
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Remittances Linkages
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Poverty reduction Mexico

• Mexico estimates that migrant remittances lowered
  the level of food poverty in the country from
  15.9 to 13.8 percent of the population in 2006 --
  stated otherwise, remittances lifted 2.3 million
  people out of food poverty.
•  
• Households in "food poverty" do not have
  sufficient income to purchase a minimum basket of
  food products.
•  
• Source Consejo Nacional de Evaluacion de la
  Politica de Desarrollo Social, Informe de
  Evaluacion de la Politica de Desarrollo Social en
  Mexico, 2008 (Mexico 2008).

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New Housing Construction in Mexico

• Accounts for 2 of GDP
• Totals 50.7 of all activity in the construction
  industry
• Benefits 37 other economic sectors, and
• Uses inputs that are almost entirely (95 percent)
  produced domestically

Source Calderon 2006
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Development Benefits (1)

• Wider labor market access in higher-wage markets
• Higher income for migrants and their families,
  leading to better human development indicators
• Poverty reduction
• Reduced unemployment/underemployment
• Foreign exchange earnings for CoOrigin positive
  impact on balance of payments and (potentially)
  on sovereign credit rating
• BUT IS IT DEVELOPMENT OR JUST THE SYMPTOMS OF
  DEVELOPMENT?

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Development Benefits (2)

• Human Capital Development (at all levels of
  skill)
• Education (for children at origin)
• Language acquisition
• Relevant skills--sometimes
• Experience

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Development Benefits (3)

• Integration into the Global Economy
• Creation of transnational networks
• FDI
• Overcoming reputational barriers
• Diaspora members as first movers in trade,
  investment, tourism
• Technology transfer
• Development of migration-related sectors of the
  economy telecommunications, travel, money
  transfer

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BUT.

• The benefits of migration are no substitute for a
  development policy in the country of origin

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Time Required to Start a Business, 2005
Source World Development Indicators
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Doing Business in LAC
Starting a business Starting a business Dealing with licenses Dealing with licenses Registering property Registering property
County Procedures (number) Time (days Procedures (number) Time (days) Procedures (number) Time (days
Argentina 15 32 23 288 5 44
Brazil 17 152 19 460 14 47
Chile 9 27 12 171 6 31
El Salvador 10 26 22 144 6 33
Guatemala 13 30 23 390 5 37
Haiti 12 203 12 141 5 683
Honduras 13 44 14 199 7 36
Mexico 8 27 12 142 5 74
Panama 7 19 22 121 7 44
Peru 10 72 19 201 5 33
Source World Bank 2007
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AND

• Migration has costs as well as benefits
• Brain drain is especially problematic for small
  states, though brain-drain is often over-rated
• Dependency on remittances flows may divert
  efforts from local development
• Family separation
• Entrenchment of low expectations from local
  employment possibilities

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Defining circular migration

• PRESCRIPTIVE
• Global Forum on Migration and Development
  Circular migration is the fluid movement of
  people between countries, including temporary or
  more permanent movement which, when it occurs
  voluntarily and is linked to the labor needs of
  countries of origin and destination, can be
  beneficial to all involved.
• European Commission a form of migration that is
  managed in a way allowing some degree of legal
  mobility back and forth between two countries.
• CARIM Temporary, renewable, circulatory (offers
  freedom of movement during each term), legal,
  respectful of migrants rights, matches labor
  supply in one country with labor needs in another
• MPI.2 A pattern of migration characterized by a
  migrants continuing engagement in both home and
  adopted countries, usually involving both return
  and repetition

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How is circular migration in the 21st century
different from temporary migration?

• Return and Repetition (usually)
• Migrants continuously engaged in Country of
  Origin and Country of Destination
• Explicitly addresses developmental concerns
• Responds simultaneously to different priorities
  of CoOs and CoDs and provides a framework for
  reconciling them

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Inward circular migration

• The cynical view
• Priority of countries of destination
• Focused on avoiding permanent migration
• Development content as a sweetener
• The positive view
• Co-development
• Provides an alternative to illegal migration
• Recognizes cross-national or regional ties and
  complementarity of labor markets

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Outward circular migration

• The cynical view
• Compensating for the brain drain (a bit)
• Reluctance on the part of receiving countries?
• Tokenism
• The positive view
• Recognizing transnationalism
• Common interests
• Institutional ties

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Defining success

• Compliance with rules
• Participation (migrants, employers, states)
• Cost-effectiveness
• Development impact
• Brings in workers with appropriate skills for
  labor market gaps
• Self-enforcing
• Workers rights are protected

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For more information, contact

• Kathleen Newland
• Migration Policy Institute
• 1400 16th Street NW, Suite 300
• Washington, DC 20036
• [phone]
• knewland_at_migrationpolicy.org
• www.migrationpolicy.org
• www.migrationinformation.org