There is much debate as to whether migration promotes development in home countries. While cash remittances sent by diaspora populations do benefit home countries, policymakers must recognise the social and economic costs caused by emigration and seek to enhance the positive links where possible.

A paper from the University of Oxford, in the UK, reviews the emigration experience of five developing countries. India, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines and Turkey have all undergone a demographic transition that means they have more young people entering the labour market than can find jobs. These countries have suffered from uneven economic development and the impoverishment of certain groups, leading to intense rural to urban migration and onward migration to industrial countries. In four of the countries, the state has played an essential role in promoting labour export.

The transfer of labour power and skills through labour migration can be seen as a form of development aid from developing countries to rich countries. For the Philippines – where remittances account for 12 percent of Gross Domestic Product – the legacy of three decades of organised labour export is the absence of industrialisation and economic growth, in contrast to neighbouring countries. Nowhere is the ‘deskilling’ effect of migration more pronounced than in the case of the Mexican population in the United States – the world’s largest diaspora.

The emergence of emigration as a ‘rite of passage’ in such countries not only leads to a loss of productive workers, but also to the absence of people who can be agents of change in their home countries. The paper draws attention to the problems caused by:

• the long-term separation of families – such as the ‘Gulf wives syndrome’ faced by women in India whose husbands are labourers in the Middle East
• the distortion of education systems re-shaped to meet the needs of destination countries
• the acceptance of a lower status in the international division of labour, with developing countries providing cheap labour to rich countries
• the risks and dangers encountered by individual migrants
• the employment of skilled migrants in low-skill jobs.

Strategies of ‘remittance-led development’ are often naïve. Collective remittances for community investment by hometown associations and similar groups are still very small in comparison with private remittance flows. In some circumstances, remittances can lead to over-consumption, inefficient types of investment and economic dependence on continuing emigration.

Remittances will only lead to economic growth if appropriate policies are put in place to encourage legal transfers and productive investment, reduce inequality, tackle corruption and unnecessary bureaucracy, and improve governance. The author makes the following conclusions:

• Policymakers must acknowledge that the conditions for achieving positive results from emigration are complex and difficult.
• The return of highly-skilled migrants will only produce benefits if home countries provide enough opportunities to encourage them to return before the end of their working lives.
• More must be done to ensure that skilled migrants are able to enhance, or at least make use of, their qualifications while working abroad.
• Diasporas must be encouraged to engage in the political processes of their home countries.

Source(s):
‘Comparing the Experience of Five Major Emigration Countries’, International Migration Institute Working Paper No. 7, University of Oxford: Oxford, by Stephen Castles, 2007 (PDF) Full document.
‘Migration and Development: Perspectives from the South’, International Organization for Migration: Geneva, edited by Stephen Castles and Raúl Delgado Wise, forthcoming 2008

Funded by: Rockefeller Foundation; James Martin 21st Century School

id21 Research Highlight: 27 April 2008

Further Information:
Stephen Castles
Department of International Development
University of Oxford
3 Mansfield Road
Oxford OX1 3TB
UK

Tel: +44 1865 287305
Fax: +44 1865 287435
Contact the contributor: stephen.castles@qeh.ox.ac.uk

International Migration Institute, Dept of International Development (QEH), University of Oxford, UK

Other related links:
'Linking African migration and development in a globalised world'

'Exploring links between globalisation, migration and education'

'Understanding African migration for pro-poor policymaking'