Lecture
An important part of world economic relations is international labor migration - the movement of workers seeking work to other countries. International labor migration is an interstate movement of labor with a change of permanent residence. It includes two opposing phenomena: emigration and immigration. Emigration is the departure of a country's population abroad, immigration is the entry of a population of other countries into the territory of a given country. These multidirectional labor flows form the international labor market, which unites similar markets at the level of states and regions. Labor migration is a form of existence of an international labor market.
Historically, migration processes have arisen many centuries ago. The first mass movement of workers was the importation of slaves from Africa to America. In the 40s. XIX century. there was an explosion of emigration from Ireland to the USA due to the “potato famine”. Large-scale migration in the early 80s XIX century. from Italy and Eastern Europe to the United States was associated with falling prices for European wheat. The flow of migration has slowed sharply due to the deteriorating economic conditions in the United States and has gained strength again during the economic recovery.
A new wave of migration from Europe to the United States was noted in the 1920s. XX century. To the reasons already mentioned here, we should add the difficulties of post-war life in Europe. After World War II, three new flows of labor migration to the United States were noted. First of all, this is a “brain drain” - a steady stream of highly qualified specialists and their family members to North America. Secondly, refugee flows from Hungary (1956) after the suppression of the anti-communist uprising and from Vietnam (1974-1975) after the end of the Vietnam War, as well as from Cuba (1980). Thirdly, the largest flow of this period is the influx of labor from Mexico, the Caribbean and Asia to the United States. At the beginning of the new century, 84% of all immigrants came from these regions.
Mass migration to the USA has always been great. The riches of this country attracted and attracted the population of many countries of the world. The size of the annual influx of migrants depended on the economic conditions in the United States, stimulating migration from Europe and other regions. Today, more than 700 thousand people legally immigrate to the country. in year. A special role in labor migration processes of the XIX-XX centuries. plays migration of the population from China to the countries of Southeast Asia and North America. It was mainly migratory in nature and is estimated to be from 70 to 100 million people.
In Europe after the Second World War, especially since the early 1960s, quite intensive labor migration processes were also noted. The labor force from Spain, Portugal, Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey was actively used in the economy of industrialized countries of Europe. In the mid-1990s, the influx of immigrants into Western Europe was at the level of 180 thousand people. in year. The countries receiving the bulk of immigrants are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland.
Australia is a classic immigration country of the Asia-Pacific region. In the XIX – XX centuries, this country accepted a large number of emigrants from different countries. In the early 1990s, Australia pursues a migration policy that stimulates business development; therefore, foreigners are primarily attracted to invest in the country's economy. It is from this decade that the immigration wave to Australia has noticeably decreased.
According to official data, by the beginning of 2005, there were more than 35 million migrant workers in the world, compared with 3.2 million in 1960. If we calculate the migrant labor force with its dependents, the number of moving workers with their family members can currently exceed 100 million people.
The causes of labor migration may be different. In recent years, economic reasons have begun to play an increasing role: the search for work, the increase in income, the standard of living, etc. Chronic unemployment, which exists in some countries (especially underdeveloped), has become an important factor in increasing migration. The increase in the size of exported capital in recent years, the creation of an extensive network of branches of large firms abroad, also contributes to this, because following capital, those who want to get a job also rush to these countries.
Migration flows are usually from developing to industrialized countries. In industrialized countries, due to the possibility of solving a complex of socio-economic tasks, a rather high standard of living has emerged for the population, possessing mainly a certain level of education and culture. Therefore, in the production and infrastructure there is a whole list of low-cost low-paid jobs and specialties for which it is difficult to find an employee. At the same time, in developing and former socialist countries, where unemployment is high and wages are low, there are many who want to occupy such places and thus solve the problem of the material well-being of the family.
International labor migration between developed countries is carried out primarily for non-economic reasons. In this case, a significant role is played by the prestige of the work or company, the opportunity for professional growth, career, cultural needs. For developed countries, a big problem is the so-called “brain drain”, for example, from Europe to the USA. A kind of center of gravity for immigrants was Israel, created in 1947. Its population increased by 60% due to migration flows and to a large extent (by 30%) due to immigrants from the USSR.
Another direction in labor migration is the departure of qualified specialists and scientists to developing countries, which is often caused by economic factors, new opportunities in work and, finally, just the desire to settle in a new place, test their capabilities in new working conditions. This flow of migrants is relatively small.
Practice shows that labor migration can be beneficial both for countries exporting labor and for countries receiving it. For a particular country, the export of labor is an important source of currency in the country. She arrives regularly in the form of remittances to families and upon the return of an employee from abroad. Departure of labor abroad means improving the situation on the domestic labor market, reducing unemployment in the country. At the same time, remittances sent to the country allow families to increase consumption levels, increase aggregate demand, stimulate production development, i.e. enable the country as a whole to more successfully solve a complex of internal socio-economic problems. Part of the money received through the purchase of shares, land, real estate is directly invested in the development of the national economy.
Working abroad, in the process of labor, they acquire new professional skills, experience, and knowledge, which they use when returning to their homeland, increasing labor productivity.
The countries importing labor force primarily solve the problem of reducing production costs. Immigrant workers receive significantly lower wages than local workers, which allows them to lower production costs and increase the competitiveness of national goods on the world market. If a qualified labor force is imported, then the cost of preparing it is reduced in the country. However, labor migration may have negative consequences. Among the negative effects of labor migration are:
It is not by chance that lately, quite widely, in the interests of neutralizing the negative effects and enhancing the positive effect that a country receives as a result of labor migration, they use funds from both state policy and interstate policy.
A feature of modern international labor migration is the increase in its volumes. If in 1960 there were 3.2 million migrant workers in the world, in 1995 there were already more than 35 million.
Russia's access to the international labor market is limited by a number of circumstances. A higher standard of living in industrialized countries and higher wages are constantly increasing the number of people willing to go to work. But there are opposing factors: the language barrier, the non-recognition by most countries of the world of national diplomas of higher education, in general, low qualification of workers and employees.
The socio-economic aspects of international labor migration can be viewed from three perspectives: the migrant, the country of departure, and the country of arrival. It is well known that the economic interest of migrants consists in raising their living standards in the country of arrival. Countries, depending on various factors, may be interested in both immigration and emigration. As a rule, developing countries, where there is a very difficult demographic situation and a relatively low standard of living, have emigration interest. The interests of all three subjects may coincide or contradict each other.
In addition to the economic and social aspects of international migration, there are also demographic and political aspects. Thus, the increase in population density complicates relations in the system man-nature. The concentration of population in cities causes an increase in social tension, leads to incitement of national conflicts, an increase in crime, etc. In shaping the concept of migration policy, one should take into account both other aspects.
To eliminate the negative consequences and enhance the positive effects of the country as a result of labor migration, it is necessary to use a set of means of state and interstate regulation of migration processes. State intervention in the process of moving labor across state borders arose earlier than the regulation of international markets for goods and services. Already at the end of the 19th century, legislative acts appeared prohibiting the departure of their workers and the entry of undesirable foreign citizens. On the contrary, the immigration of specialists for promising sectors of the economy, representatives of rare professions, world-renowned people in the fields of science, culture, art and sports, business representatives who invest their capital in the economy of the host country, and, finally, workers willing to perform harmful and difficult work for a minimum wage.
Today, an entire system of measures to regulate intercountry labor migration has emerged in the states of the world community, including legislation on the legal, political, and professional status of a migrant. The migration policy is carried out directly through the national migration services, created, as a rule, at the ministries of labor, justice or foreign affairs. Immigration services carry out the functions of controlling entry into the country. Their duties include issuing entry visas, permits, coordinating them with employers' applications for employment, as well as monitoring the residence time of foreign labor in the country.
The labor-importing countries, which constantly experience the need to attract labor, base their immigration policy primarily on measures to regulate the number and quality of arriving migrant workers, and the immigration quota indicator is used as a regulatory tool, which is calculated and approved annually. importing country. In determining the quota, the needs of the country in foreign labor and by individual categories of the attracted population (gender and age groups, education, etc.), as well as the state of the national labor and housing markets, the political and social situation in the importing country are taken into account.
An example of the high quality requirements of the arriving workforce is evidenced by the need to go through the procedure for recognizing the migrant’s documents of education or vocational training, as well as experience in the specialty. The age limit is one of the common criteria for the selection of immigrants and acts in favor of younger applicants.
Among other requirements for quality labor. stand out:
At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the value of a quality attribute in the selection of immigrants is not constant and may change in favor of other priorities. But for a number of characteristics, such as age qualifications, availability of a labor certificate, possession of a profession and professional training, the requirements are quite stable over time.
A certain role in the regulation of labor migration is played by the world community and international organizations. The world community recognized as expedient and necessary condition to adhere to certain legal norms and standards enshrined in the documents of international organizations. When ratifying international conventions, countries that regulate the process of labor migration recognize the priority of international law over national legislation, which is important for both the country and migrants, whose rights abroad are significantly extended. If a country importing labor is mainly responsible for the arrival and use of migrants, then the function of the country exporting labor is primarily to regulate the outflow and protection of the interests of its migrant citizens abroad. Therefore, in many respects the interests of countries-exporters and importers of labor are closely intertwined.
Today, a considerable number of global institutions and organizations (primarily within the UN), as well as regional groupings, continue to address issues related to the migration of people and labor resources. Thus, the UN Commission on Population has a fund, part of which is used to subsidize national programs in the field of migration. The activities of the International Labor Organization (ILO) include the regulation of inter-country migration of the population as one of its goals. A number of international treaties adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) contain special rules that relate to the physical condition of migrant workers. UNESCO documents contain provisions aimed at improving the education of migrant workers and members of their families. The role of the International Organization for Migration (MOM) is increasing, its goal is to ensure orderly and planned inter-country migration, its organization, exchange of experience and information on these issues. In addition, in the Western European region, the Intergovernmental Committee on Migration (SIME), through its activities, contributes to ensuring and protecting the rights of migrant workers.
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World economy
Terms: World economy