European migration. What do we know?

Abstract:

There is a substantial body of migration literature but still a lack of empirical evidence for the experience of European countries. This work seeks to fill that gap, offering a collection of case studies for all major European countries and contrasting the European evidence with experiences from most of the traditional immigration countries. Preliminary versions of many of the papers were presented at the CEPR conference ‘European migration: what do we know?’, held in Munich in November 1997.

The book is organised over sixteen chapters. Following a comprehensive introduction chapter two deals with post war Sweden. Chapter three looks at the recent Danish experience as an example of migration in a Scandinavian welfare state. The characteristics, causes and consequences of Irish migration are covered in chapter four, while the United Kingdom experience is dealt with in chapter five. Chapter six explores the Netherlands experience - a long history of emigration but a new one of immigration. Chapter seven looks at German migration, particularly aspects such as development, assimilation and labour market effects. The story of immigrant adjustment in France and the impact on the native population is told in chapter eight. Chapter nine covers the Italian experience and chapter ten considers the Greek record. The historical background to migrations in Spain and the current trends are examined in chapter eleven and the Portuguese story is given in chapter twelve. Immigration under conditions of adversity is the focus of chapter thirteen on Israel. The non-European record of North America is given in chapters fourteen and fifteen, the USA and Canada respectively. The final chapter tells of the New Zealand experience - Europeans in the Antipodes.

The work will interest academic labour economists, geographers, and sociologists, as well as policy makers engaged in immigration.

Klaus F. Zimmermann is Professor of Economics at Bonn University and Director of the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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