Labour migration in Europe

Europe is today one of the major global destinations for migrants. According to United Nations data for 2005, there are about 64m migrants (defined as foreign-born persons) in
Europe, which is equivalent to a third of the global migrant stock (an estimated 190m) and just under 9% of the European population, more than double the percentage in 1970. With the number of migrants at a record high, immigration has become one of the most important and contested public policy issues in many European countries. Debates about immigration typically span a wide range of economic, social, legal, political, and moral arguments.

The papers in this issue of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy primarily (but not exclusively) focus on the economic analysis of migration and immigration policy. The papers
critically review and contribute to existing research on: the determinants, characteristics, and demographic impacts of migration (Zaiceva & Zimmermann and Coleman); the economic effects on local (non-migrant) workers and on the migrants themselves (Dustmann, Glitz, & Frattini, Venturini & Villosio, and Clark & Drinkwater); the fiscal effects of immigration (Rowthorn and Barrett & McCarthy); the determinants of remittances (Carling); the effects of migration on sending countries (Kaczmarczyk & Ok´olski); and the implications of economic research for labour immigration policy (Ruhs).