Migration, Trade and Remittances: Low- and High-Skilled Workers Cover Image

Migration, Trade and Remittances: Low- and High-Skilled Workers
Migration, Trade and Remittances: Low- and High-Skilled Workers

Author(s): Philip L. Martin
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Economy, Geography, Regional studies, Economic development, Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Remittances; development; high-skilled workers; trade; migration humps;

Summary/Abstract: International migration involves the movement of people over national borders, while international trade deals with the production of goods or services in one country and their consumption in another. Economic theory assumes that migration and trade are substitutes, so that freer trade between countries with different wage levels should reduce voluntary migration as trade leads to convergence in wages. However, free-trade agreements can produce a migration hump as the pace of change accelerates and economies adjust, as migration increases before investment creates enough jobs to generate stay-at-home development despite remittances from migrants abroad. Efforts to deal with the root causes of migration must be aware of potential migration humps.

  • Issue Year: 1/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 37-52
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: English