Exploring the Economic and Social Consequences of Global Immigration

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of immigration, highlighting its historical context and diverse economic and social impacts. It explores how immigration affects trade, innovation, and global poverty, benefiting both the sending and receiving countries. The analysis covers the effects on native wage inequality, cultural diversity, and the labor market, while also emphasizing the positive impacts of remittances and skill transfer from emigrants. Ultimately, the essay concludes that immigration is a potential tool for global technological and economic growth, advocating for the re-evaluation of immigration policies to fully exploit its benefits. Desklib is your go-to platform for accessing similar solved assignments and study resources.

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Introduction
Immigration is the international movement of people into destination country which they
are not natives or do not possess citizenship usually for permanent residence or temporary
employment. Several surveys conducted are in agreement that immigration is both beneficial to
both sending and the receiving country. The real impacts that immigration has on the economy
are mixed. With a lift of immigration barriers within many countries of the world, immigration
rates have increased. Different issues are coming up every day as a result of immigration.
History of immigration
Animals including human beings are known to have migrated all through the
evolutionary theory. Human migration can be stated to have begun with human movements from
cradle land to other continents. Across the border, immigration has become rampant in the 20th
and 21st century. The transition between these centuries has witnessed the significant
transformation in both the international relations and economic developments. This acts in favor
of immigration which explains the sudden changes (National Research Council and Committee
on Population 2009). The most significant number of immigrants is reported to live in the United
States. As a result, American society has been significantly affected.
Economic effects of immigration
Studies conducted previously have a consensus that high skill immigration makes the
native better off. According to David Card, the economic impacts of immigration are mild but on
average the native benefits from immigration. For instance, immigrants from developed
countries into developing countries are of great interest to the economy of developing countries.
A country like Kenya is encouraging high qualified Cuban doctors. The immigrant doctors are
expected to pass down some technological advancement in the healthcare department of Kenya.

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Out of this temporary immigration, the health services of Kenyan people will have been taken to
a whole new level. This implies development.
However, immigration does not come without adverse effects. Immigration hurts native
wage inequality. Wage inequality is propelled by the fact that immigration leaks the money
circulation in an economy. Low skill immigration has been linked to greater income inequality in
the native country. Immigration has substantial impacts on cultural diversity. This affects the
productivity of the native state (Dustmann and Frattini 2014). New culture introduced affects the
workflow which has direct negative impacts on production. However, the cultural diversification
is dependent on factors like age of immigrant, reason for immigration, a period of the stay among
other factors. Increasing rates of deportation have yielded to unemployment as the low skilled
labor market is weakened which is felt by both immigrant and the native citizen.
Impacts on trade and innovation
Immigration leads to greater trade in goods and services. Immigration barriers are
increasingly being lifted between countries for trade purposes. Immigration encourages trade
between nations. With continuous and a more stable flow of products and services, the
consumer's demands will be addressed. Immigrants usually bring new ideas and developments
which translate into new inventions in the native nation. With increased immigration,
technological advancement in both production and communication sectors are spreading quickly.
The globe is witnessing whole world transformations (Dustmann, Glitz and Frattini 2008). For
instance in Kenya, as a result of a high number of Chinese immigrants, the country has benefitted
from new road construction technologies which have seen the state develop regarding
infrastructure. Also trade between the Far East, Middle East, and Africa has significantly
improved. An active trade has been established between the Asian countries and the African

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nations. The Far East is the heart of the most advanced electronics as well as motor vehicles.
There exists a broader market in developing countries which can produce these products.
Immigration between these countries has boosted the big trade deal (Docquier, Ozden. and Peri
2014).
Impacts of immigration on global poverty
Researchers have come into agreement that immigration is beneficial to both the sending
country and the receiving country. One study pointed out that welfare of native citizens is likely
to rise at the rate of 5% to 10% depending on other factors like remittances. This implies that
immigration is indirectly proportional to the poverty rate. Immigration helps fight poverty
whereby it widens the market for low skilled labor. Studies have shown that elimination of
barriers to migration would have positive effects on the world GDP which is estimated to rise by
approximately 67% to 147% margin.
The migration barriers are the main reason for income inequality in the globe. This
inequality is the main reason why some economies are unable to fully exploit their resources to
achieve the optimal performance (Card 2009). Encouraging immigration by removal of these
barriers will imply a reduction in the income barriers. Lifting migration barriers inhibiting
migration from low productive country to a more productive county is a better incentive to fight
poverty. This tool was found to work in New Zealand where Torgan immigrants resulted in
263% profit on lottery industry. Immigration results into new production techniques being
introduced into the economy. With better production methods, the production is expected to
improve. With better production, income will also proportionately better thus reduced poverty
levels. In general, immigration is one of the tools that could be deployed to fight against the
increasing rate of poverty (Borjas 2008).

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Impacts on the sending country
Generally, research done confirms that the sending state benefits from emigration.
Emigration results in remittances which in turn imply better living standards in the state of
origin. According to a study conducted on remittances to Mexico showed that Mexican public
services improved (Altonji and Card 2009). The study further points out that, the origin country
is affected positively by emigration where human capital formation increases. There was found
to be brain gain instead of the standard brain drain. The origin country benefits indirectly from
skilled labor. In the long run, the low skilled labor returns home with more skills to develop and
innovate. Therefore the origin country helps in many ways from immigration.
Conclusion
Immigration has reduced the world into a global village. Immigration is the hidden
potential for the whole world to grow both technologically and economically. According to
researchers conducted, migration has so far reported positive results which only get better with
an increased rate of immigration. It is due to this reason that the issue of immigration needs to
address again so as to exploit benefits of immigration fully.

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References
Altonji, J. G. and Card, D., 2009. The effects of immigration on the labor market outcomes of
less-skilled natives. In Immigration, trade, and the labor market (pp. 201-234). University of
Chicago Press.
Borjas, G. J. (Ed.)., 2008. Issues in the Economics of Immigration. University of Chicago Press.
Card, D., 2009. Immigration and inequality. American Economic Review, 99(2), 1-21.
Docquier, F., Ozden, Ç. and Peri, G., 2014. The labour market effects of immigration and
emigration in OECD countries. The Economic Journal, 124(579), 1106-1145.
Dustmann, C. and Frattini, T., 2014. The fiscal effects of immigration to the UK. The economic
journal, 124(580).
Dustmann, C., Glitz, A. and Frattini, T., 2008. The labour market impact of immigration. Oxford
Review of Economic Policy, 24(3), 477-494.
National Research Council and Committee on Population., 2009. The new Americans: Economic,
demographic, and fiscal effects of immigration. National Academies Press.