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Towards a European migration policy

  • Immigrants And Immigration Policy
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Abstract

The stagnating West European population combined with the prosperous economic development of the European Community (EC) generate strong economic incentives for immigration. The drastic political changes in Eastern Europe have caused additional migration pressures. There are a variety of problems with the economic and political integration of migrants, however. The paper argues that immigration can compensate for demographic losses due to the decline and ageing of the European labor force. Economic theory further predicts welfare gains from free factor movements, which should be reaped as long as social costs and adjustment costs are not prohibitive. An active European migration policy is recommended to achieve this aim.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Armed Forces, Hamburg, Germany

    Thomas Straubhaar

  2. Center for Economic Policy Research, London, UK

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

  3. SELAPO, University of Munich, Ludwigstrase 28 RG, D-80539, Munich, Germany

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Authors
  1. Thomas Straubhaar
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  2. Klaus F. Zimmermann
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Additional information

This article is a completely revised version of CEPR Discussion Paper No. 641, presented by the second author at the CEPR Workshop ‘The economies of migration’ on 23 November 1991 in London, UK, and at a hearing of the European Parliament on 25 May 1992 in Bruxelles, Belgium.

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Straubhaar, T., Zimmermann, K.F. Towards a European migration policy. Popul Res Policy Rev 12, 225–241 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01074386

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