Publication

This paper on Europe's migration system argues that European policymakers underestimate the importance of underlying demographics and labor market dynamics in the patterns of East-West migration in Europe. The author explains that migration flows have traditionally been demand-driven and have therefore been drawn by the European nations with the most open and informal labor markets, such as the UK, Ireland, Italy and Spain, rather than more highly regulated welfare states such as Denmark. The paper discusses the desirability of the inevitable trend in Europe toward a more US-style international labor market that parallels the migration system between the US and Mexico. It details how Europe has witnessed the emergence of a more regionalized system, in which Western European societies come to rely on Eastern European movers to fill secondary labor market needs in the service economy, rather than more racially or ethnically distinct non-European immigrants.