Migration has always been a
central characteristic of the world most dynamic and productive economies.
Throughout medieval Europe, states at the forefront of economic progress hosted
entrepreneurs and laborers from across the continent. When the Netherlands led
the world economy during the 1600s, 10 percent of its population was of foreign
birth. Throughout the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries mass migrations from
Europe to the North America and Australasia enabled tens of millions of people to escape
poverty and persecution and created what today rank as the world’s most
prosperous societies. In recent years, migrant Diasporas, such as India’s
techies –have made manifest contributions to the state of technology while also
promoting global integration economic growth and poverty alleviation in their
home countries.

With the dawn of European
colonialism, migration took on a transcontinental dimension, with labor chasing
wealth across the globe. Initially high costs and harsh conditions limited
labor flows to intrepid aristocrats and those they exploited either by contract
or coercion. Initially Britain was the main source of migrants-a consequence of
its colonial reach, its economic preeminence, and its surging demographic
profile. Yet, as industrial revolutions spread across Europe, uprooting rural
population and fueling demographic booms the continent’s emigration flows
diversified and grew significantly. By the dawn of the 20th century
close to 1.4 million migrants were crossing the Atlantic annually, the majority
from the poorer region of southern and Eastern Europe. In total, between 1850
and 1914, some 55 million Europeans migrated, mostly to the United States. The
majority of migrants incited a political backlash that eventually contributed
to long- standing barriers to Asian immigration to the United States.
In 1917, The US introduced a
literacy test for migrants intended to stifle further immigration of low-
skilled workers. Later that year, the United States again entered world war1,
disrupting Trans-Atlantic shipping routes and effectively bringing an end to
the age of mass migration.
In France, Germany, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, rapid economic growth in the late 1940s
and 1950s had generated a shortage of low wage labor. Initially, this demand
was met by migrants from southern European countries though such source quickly
proved insufficient. By the 1960s, countries across western Europe –Germany in
particular were importing millions of ‘guest workers’ from Turkey and north
Africa while the 1973 oil crisis and the ensuing high unemployment brought an abrupt
end of guest workers programs in western Europe, the oil exporting countries in
the middle east, later replicated and expanded upon the guest worker model.
Perhaps the most defining
change in modern immigration however, came in the mid- 1960s when Australia, Canada
and the US overhauled their immigration policies. These reforms not only
allowed for a much greater volume of flows, but also opened the door to migration
from non traditional sources in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Together with
the sharp decline in cost and increased speed of intercontinental transport and
communication, the reform of migration restrictions has ensured a steady growth
in both the volume and diversity of migrant flows over recent decades.
Today, the US continues to
accept more immigrants than any other country in the world. The Middle East has
also emerged as a major host of migrants, particularly for low- skilled workers
from south and Southeast Asia. Among countries of emigration, the middle income
countries tend to have high rates of outflow. Mexico and the Philippines in
particular are major exporters of labor. Philippines in particular has over
seven million people overseas, equivalent to 10 percent of its population.
Nevertheless the structure of immigration flows today broadly reflects those of
the 19th century which is a testament to the common human desires that
underscore individual decision to migrant and common benefits that recipient
society reap from the contribution of the migrants. Today, the immigration
regimes of the richer countries aggressively guard the national interest and
seek out the economic migrants who possess desirable socioeconomic
characteristics. For example Canada and New Zealand- this is achieved through
the point system which grants permanent residence to applicants who offer the
right mix of skills, capital and adaptability.

High- income countries use
skilled migrant programs to fill occupational shortages that cannot be met by
training resident nationals. Historically, such flows have been concentrated in
education and health-related services. During the 1990s, however, booms in
telecommunication and in information and communication technology (ICT) led to
a shortage of related skills in many high income countries, causing a renewed
surge inflows of highly skilled migrants. There are around 3 million immigrants
with university degrees residing in developed countries. With many of these
degrees having been financed by source country governments, the total wealth
transfer from poor to rich countries represented by the brain drain stands
somewhere between US$ 45 and US$60 billion. Highly skilled workers in many
countries generate the largest share of tax receipts. As a result, developing
countries with respected system of higher education have emerged as major
sources of particular skills for the developed world. India for instance has
dominated the international market for computer- related skills accounting for
over 60 percent of migrants heading to the United States to work in the field.
History shows that the world’s
most productive economies often require and benefit from the presence of
migrant workers. In Singapore, Southeast Asia’s richest state, migrants make up
around one- quarter of the workforce. In Europe, those countries with the
highest number of migrant workers- Switzerland and Luxembourg are also the wealthiest.
The Arab Emirate of Dubai which is probably currently among the world’s fastest
expanding areas of economic activity, has nine times as many migrant workers as
it has native workers, By lowering the costs of production and bringing in
needed skills and expertise, migrants can indeed offer large positive benefit
to growing economies.
As Borjas (2004) claims, ‘illegal
immigrants created a net burden for California’s tax payers of around US$2 to
US$3 billion annually” [P.26]. His argument lacks sufficient evidence to
justify his statement. However, there is a wide body of economic research that
paints a very different picture of the fiscal impact of migration. Many Europeans
studies for instance, concluded that immigrants- even those who are
undocumented contribute more in taxes and pension contributions that they
consume in benefits or other public services. In UK, the contribution of
immigration to public finance is so large that , in the words of the United
Nations, “ were it not for the immigrant population either public service would
have to be cut or the government would need to increase the basic rate of
income tax by one penny in the pound. In US, there is a big possibility that
immigrant families are less likely to claim social welfare benefits than native
families once income levels are controlled for.

In addition, the content that
migrants take the jobs of native workers is probably the most ubiquitous and
controversial argument advanced against immigration. For economists, it has
proved to be a difficult debate to settle empirically. Basic theory suggests that
increasing the size of the labor force will lower the wage level all other
things being equal. When a city or region receives an influx of immigrant
labor, native workers may opt to move to other regions thereby masking and
spreading out any changes to move into a region experiencing such an influx,
causing local wages to go up. Migrants may also differ substantially from
native workers in that they offer employers, and thus they may look for very
different jobs.
Migrants who bring with them
distinct skills or business contacts may also generate changes in technology,
productivity and trade patterns that can affect an economy in ways quite
unforeseen before their presence. It does not thus follow that simply because a
particular region experiences an inflow of migrant labor, the average wage of
native workers will decline relative to what it would have been otherwise.
In conclusion, inflows of
skilled migrants can stimulate high-tech goods and services in destination
countries. The magnitude of these benefits is often sizable particularly in
countries with long established programs for attracting talents. In the US, for
instance, it has been estimated that a quarter of Silicon Valley firms are
headed by immigrants from China and India. Further, entrepreneurial immigrants
have frequently played a crucial role in establishing trade and investment
links between destination and source countries. These links often prove equally
crucial in raising the living standard of native citizens. Immigrants can also
help economies in much less tangible ways as well, such as by aiding in the
adoption of foreign innovations and ideas.