This Migration and Development Brief reports global trends in migration and remittance flows, major policy developments, and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for reducing remittance costs and recruitment costs.
... See More + The Brief reports new data on recruitment costs, a potential indicator for the SDG of promoting safe and regular migration. The special focus of the Brief is return migration, currently a challenging issue globally following the increase in asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.
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Most Europe and Central Asia (ECA) economies are showing more rapid growth than previously expected, reflecting a strengthening of growth in industrial production and exports in recent months.
... See More + Export growth in the region continues to exceed that in the rest of the world. With the robust cyclical performance, countries are shifting their focus toward structural challenges that are part of the new normal after the financial crisis and the fall in commodity prices.Technological advancement, the globalization of production and work, and the challenges caused by lower commodity prices have contributed to a rise in public anxiety. It came to the surface as the number of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in the region rose, leading to concerns about immigration in general. Often lost in the current debate is the fact that the number of refugees in ECA is not unprecedented, that surges tend to be temporary, that refugees represent just a small share of the total number of migrants and that migration has long been vital to the region, with ECA economies reaping substantial benefits from cross-border labor mobility. Migration patterns are likely to change with technological progress and further cross border connectivity, and competition for high-quality jobs will become more intense. Reforms should help both migrants and non migrants cope with the inevitable increase in flexibility in labor markets—by, for example, ensuring the portability of benefits, increasing income security for workers, and better integrating migrants in host countries.
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This is a background paper to the Pacific Possible report. The paper proposes a series reforms to enhance labor mobility opportunities for Pacific Island countries.
... See More + Such reforms would result in a triple win benefitting migrants, labor sending, and labor receiving countries.
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Publication 119105 FEB 01, 2017
Curtain,Richard Leigh; Dornan,Matthew Selwyn; Doyle,Jesse Jon Gerome; Howes,StephenDisclosed
Romania is the fastest growing economy in the European Union (EU), and Bucharest and Romania’s secondary cities have been its main growth engines.
... See More + However, while Bucharest has reached productivity levels comparable to those of other EU capitals, secondary cities in Romania still have some ways to go before competing on equal footing with secondary cities in the EU. Without strengthening these secondary cities, the Romanian economy cannot sustain growth in the coming years. The most competitive secondary cities are those that are most astute at attracting people, investments, and tourists. This report looks at the cities that have been most successful at attracting migrants and commuters, and proposes a number of recommendations aimed at making secondary cities more attractive and competitive. The report is primarily addressed to policy makers and to a lay audience interested in urban development issues.This report is structured along four main sections: 1) An analysis of development dynamics, with a particular focus on the importance of cities in driving growth and development; 2) An analysis of migration and commuter patterns in Romania; 3) An analysis of the cities and areas that have been most successful at attracting people, and an analysis of the urban areas that will likely attract most people in the future. 4) Recommendations on how EU, national, and local policies and investments can help make secondary cities more competitive.
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This paper studies how migration from a poor to a rich country affects key economic beliefs, preference parameters, and transnational household decision-making efficiency.
... See More + The setting is the migration of Tongans to New Zealand through a migration lottery program. In a 10-year follow-up survey of individuals applying for this program, the study elicited risk and time preferences and pro-market beliefs. It also linked migrants and potential migrants to a partner household consisting of family members who would stay behind if the migrants moved. Survey participants played lab-in-the-field games designed to measure the degree of intra-family trust and the efficiency of intra-family decision-making. Migration provides a large and permanent positive shock to income, a large change in economic institutions, and a reduction in interactions with partner household members. Despite these changes, the study finds no significant impacts of migration on risk and time preferences, pro-market beliefs, or the decision-making efficiency of transnational households. This stability in the face of such a large and life-changing event lends credence to economic models of migration that treat these determinants of decision-making as time-invariant, and contrasts with recent evidence on preference changes after negative shocks.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7848 OCT 03, 2016
Remittances are a major source of external financing for many developing countries, but the cost of sending them remains high in many migration corridors.
... See More + Despite efforts to lower these costs by offering new products and developing cost-comparison information sources, many new and promising inexpensive remittance methods have relatively low adoption rates. The lack of financial literacy among migrants has been identified as one potentially important barrier to competition and new product adoption. This paper presents the results of a randomized experiment designed to measure the impact of providing financial literacy training to migrants. Training appears to increase financial knowledge and information-seeking behavior and reduces the risk of switching to costlier remittance products, but it does not result in significant changes in the frequency of remitting or in the remitted amount.
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Migration associated with economic opportunity is a common phenomenon. One form of migration is project-induced in-migration, which involves the movement of people into an area in anticipation of, or in response to, economic opportunities associated with the development and/or operation of a new project.
... See More + This publication has been developed to fill an identified gap in assessing the risk of project induced in-migration and promoting its management. It aims to promote better recognition, understanding, and management of project-induced in migration. Given the diversity of projects in which International Finance Corporation (IFC) is involved, the contexts in which they are developed, and the relationship between project development and local and regional development, this document is relevant for both private and public sector projects, and in particular for large-scale projects in the extractive, infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors. This handbook is designed to assist the wide range of stakeholders who are directly and indirectly affected by project-induced in migration and involved in its management, including: a) private sector entities establishing projects in areas with a medium-high risk of project induced in migration; b) local, regional, and national governments that promote private sector economic development; c) government departments, non-governmental organizations, and community-based organizations that promote the social welfare of communities; and d) consultants and development practitioners providing services to the private sector entities. The handbook has been written and designed to meet the needs of a wide range of stakeholders at the corporate and project-levels. To facilitate selective use the various sections have been separated with tabs. For more publications on IFC Sustainability please visit www.ifc.org/sustainabilitypublications.
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