Abstract
The Baltic countries, which experienced intensive outflow of labor during the first 5 years after joining the EU, also provide an interesting case for a study of the migration response to economic shocks. The behavior of Baltic migrants was different from that of their counterparts from other NMS. During the economic crisis of 2009–2010 and its aftermath, mobile citizens of other countries which joined EU in 2004 responded primarily to the worsening economic situation in old member state host countries: emigration slowed down, while return migration intensified.
The authors thank the anonymous referees as well as the editors of this volume for providing a number of suggestions that helped to improve the chapter significantly. We remain responsible for any mistakes still present.
Financial support from European Social Fund Research Project: 2013/0055/1DP/1.1.1.2.0/13/APIA/VIAA/040 “The emigrant communities of Latvia: National identity, transnational relations, and diaspora politics” (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia in cooperation with Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Latvia) is gratefully acknowledged. The chapter greatly benefited from guidance and useful comments by the editors, as well as from fruitful discussions with the authors of the other chapters in this volume during IZA/CEUR Workshops in Budapest (2011–2012), and colleagues in other meetings. The usual disclaimer applies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Notes
- 1.
Kahanec and Zimmermann (2010) review evidence on the early post-enlargement mobility in a broader EU context. Kahanec (2012) extends analysis to cover also the 2007 enlargement and the beginning of the economic crisis. Kahanec et al (2016) provide econometric analysis of migration flows in EU15 + EFTA + EU12 over the period of 1995–2010.
- 2.
This was the case both in fixed prices (as shown in Fig. 1) and in PPS (not shown).
- 3.
In the case of Estonia, however, the situation might be affected by the fact the main destination country, Finland, is geographically and linguistically very close, which makes psychic cost of staying abroad lower and pressure to return smaller.
- 4.
NINO statistics reflects only immigrants aged 16 and more; it has been adjusted upwards assuming, for each year and sending country, the same proportion of children among immigrants to the UK as among immigrants to other EU/EFTA countries.
- 5.
These results are based on data covering outflows to the UK, Germany, the Nordic countries, Ireland, Austria, and the Netherlands, which accounted for more than 90 % of the total emigration from each of the Baltic countries to the EU and OECD destinations in 2012.
- 6.
The official Lithuanian figure for 2010 is an exception: many of the previous years’ emigrants signed out from the population register in 2010 to avoid compulsory health insurance payments; see OECD (2012: p. 248).
- 7.
Hazans (2003, Tables A4.1–A4.4) provides a detailed comparison of earnings.
- 8.
These results, based on Eurobarometer 64.1 data, refer to the population aged 18–65 years; see Hazans (2012: Table 3) for Estonia and Latvia.
- 9.
Brucker et al. (2009, Tables 6.7–6.8), in the case of UK in 2004–2007, report returns of just 2 % per year of schooling and find that 82 % of tertiary-educated immigrants from the NMS were over-qualified for their jobs. In the same period, 40–60 % of tertiary-educated Estonian and Latvian mobile workers and more than 60 % of their Lithuanian counterparts were over-qualified according to Hazans and Philips (2010, Fig. 7).
- 10.
- 11.
During the crisis years in Latvia, for workers with less than 20 years of contribution, this was the case already after 6 months of registered unmeployment.
- 12.
- 13.
Kaczmarczyk et al. (2010) use SI = GM/GS − 1 with similar properties; the advantage of my measure is in having symmetric (opposite) values for GM/GS = k and GM/GS = 1/k.
- 14.
For Estonia, this finding is supported also by results in Anniste et al. (2012), who used data on registered emigration.
- 15.
The Estonian case is not perfectly comparable to the other two because some of the Estonians working in Finland commute to/from Estonia (mostly on weekly basis but in some cases more often); yet a substantial part of these commuters are registered as residents of Finland. This makes exact identification of Estonian emigrants in Finland difficult. Commuters are, on average, less educated than settled emigrants.
- 16.
The UK Population Census data are likely to overestimate the share of tertiary-educated immigrants and under-estimate the share of low-educated. First, the low-educated immigrants are more likely to avoid participation due to language problems. Second, due to complicated design of the question on educational attainment and specific terminology used in it, many of the immigrants (especially the low-educated) choose only the answer “Foreign qualification.” The imputation algorithm used by ONS when producing publicly-available tables on educational attainment by country of birth is not sending-country-specific and classifies 69 % of these immigrants as highly-educated. I assume that the bias is not big enough to change the conclusions from Fig. 8 (lower panel) qualitatively. This assumption is supported from data from online survey of Latvian emigrants conducted in 2014 (see footnote 18 below), with the non-weighted share of tertiary-educated among 3091 post-2000 emigrants living in the UK being 40 %. However, this issue calls for further investigation.
- 17.
- 18.
See Hazans (2015a, 2015c), Mierina (2015). The survey has been designed and conducted in the framework of interdisciplinary research project “The emigrant communities of Latvia: National identity, transnational relations, and diaspora politics” implemented by Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia in cooperation with Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Latvia and supported by European Social Fund Project 2013/0055/1DP/1.1.1.2.0/13/APIA/VIAA/040.
Comparison of the respondents’ distribution by host country, age, gender, and period of leaving with data from other sources does not show any significant selection bias. Moreover, the distribution of repondents from the UK and Ireland by educational attainment is largely consistent with the data from the year 2011 Population Censuses in these countries.
- 19.
Except for the most recent emigrants, the stock SI are smaller that the flow ones because during the period between arriving to the host country and 2014, the share of university graduates among emigrants was growing slower than among young stayers.
- 20.
Anniste et al. (2012: Table 1), using data on registered emigrants from Estonia, find that the proportion of minorities among emigrants declined from 48 % in 2000–2003 to 28 % in the post-accession period (2004–2008). This also support our expectations on the pattern of ethnic selectivity.
- 21.
See Kahanec and Fabo (2013) for a recent analysis of gender and family on emigration intentions in the EU.
- 22.
Ministry of Education and Science, unpublished data.
- 23.
Due to data limitations, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are excluded.
- 24.
- 25.
Note that median, across all years, tenure of Latvian mobile workers in the LFS data is less than 1 year.
- 26.
Masso et al. (2014) provide evidence for substantial downskilling among Estonians working abroad.
- 27.
Note that in the post-accession period, the total inflow or returnees during the moving 10-year window was growing over time.
- 28.
By contrast, Masso et al. (2014) do not find an earnings premium for return migrants in Estonia.
- 29.
World Bank online database, assessed on June 30, 2015.
- 30.
- 31.
The effect of emigration on total labor force participation is theoretically ambiguous. Changes in the age structure caused by emigration suggest a negative effect, while higher real wages and lower hiring standards tend to increase the participation rate, especially among disadvantaged groups (Hazans and Philips 2010; Hazans 2011a). In fact, the activity rate of the Latvian working age population was much higher in 2011–2012 than in the pre-accession period, but it could have been even higher in absence of emigration.
- 32.
For details, see http://www.ieguldilatvija.lv/
References
Andor, L. (2014). Moving towards the facts: Mobility in the Nordic-Baltic region. Presentation at the conference Labour Mobility and Transnationalism in the Nordic-Baltic Region, Tallinn, Estonia, March 7, 2014. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-14-193_en.htm
Anniste, K., & Tammaru, T. (2014). Ethnic differences in integration levels and return migration intentions: A study of Estonian migrants in Finland. Demographic Research, 30, 377–412.
Anniste, K., Tammaru, T., Pungas, E., & Paas, T. (2012). Emigration after EU enlargement: Was there a brain drain effect in the case of Estonia? http://ssrn.com/abstract=2070036
Anosova, D., Sonin, K., Vanags, A., & Zasova, A. (2013). Structural or cyclical? Unemployment in Latvia Since the 2008–09 financial crisis (CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP9525). http://ssrn.com/abstract=2288490
Aptekar, S. (2009). Contexts of exit in the migration of Russian speakers from the Baltic countries to Ireland. Ethnicities, 9(4), 507–526.
Aujean, L. (2012). Recent trends in intra-EU mobility: A focus on CEE member states. Paper presented at Advisory Committee on free movement of workers, Brussels, 30 Oct 2012.
Barrell, R., FitzGerald, J. & Riley, R. (2007). EU enlargement and migration: Assessing the macroeconomic impacts (NIESR Discussion Paper No. 292). London.
Blanchflower, D. G., & Shadforth, C. (2009). Fear, unemployment and migration. The Economic Journal, 119(535), F136–F182.
Borjas, G. J. (1987). Self-selection and the earnings of immigrants. American Economic Review, 77(4), 531–553.
Borjas, G. J. (1999). Immigration and welfare magnets. Journal of Labor Economics, 17(4), 607–637.
Broka, A. (2011). The social security of Latvian families in age of economic migration. In B. Zepa & E. Kļave (Eds.), Latvia. Human development report 2010/2011: National identity, mobility and capability (pp. 102–106). Riga: University of Latvia Press.
Brucker, H., Baas, T., Bertoli, S., Boeri, T. et al. (2009). Labor mobility within the EU in the context of enlargement and the functioning of the transitional arrangements, Nuremberg, European Integration Consortium (IAB, CMR, fRDB, GEP, WIFO, wiiw).
Department for Work and Pensions. (2014). National Insurance number allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK.
Elsner, B. (2013a). Does emigration benefit the stayers? Evidence from EU enlargement. Journal of Population Economics, 26(2), 531–553.
Elsner, B. (2013b). Emigration and wages: The EU enlargement experiment. Journal of International Economics, 91(1), 154–163.
European Commission. (2010). Employment in Europe 2010. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=593
European Commission. (2011). Labor market developments in Europe, 2011. http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/publication_summary-20110809_en.htm
European Commission. (2012). Employment and social developments in Europe 2011. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
European Commission. (2013). EU employment and social situation. Quarterly review. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Gormsen, C., & Pytlikova, M. (2012). Diasporas and foreign direct investments. Paper presented at EALE Annual Conference in Bonn, 20–23 Sept 2012. www.eale.nl/Conference2012/program/Parallel%20session%20B.htm
Hazans, M. (2003). Potential emigration of latvian labor force after joining the EU and its impact on Latvian Labor Market. http://ssrn.com/abstract=739305
Hazans, M. (2007). Coping with growth and emigration: Latvian Labor Market before and after EU accession. http://ssrn.com/abstract=9711908
Hazans, M. (2008). Post-enlargement return migrants’ earnings premium: Evidence from Latvia (EALE 2008 Paper No. 541). http://ssrn.com/abstract=1269728
Hazans, M. (2010). Ethnic minorities in Latvian Labor Market, 1997–2009: Outcomes, integration drivers and barriers. In N. Muižnieks (Ed.), How integrated is Latvian society? An audit of achievements, failures and challenges (pp. 125–158). Riga: University of Latvia Press.
Hazans, M. (2011a). Labor market integration of ethnic minorities in Latvia. In M. Kahanec & K. F. Zimmermann (Eds.), Ethnic diversity in European labor markets: Challenges and solutions (pp. 163–197). Cheltenham/Northampton: Edward Elgar.
Hazans, M. (2011b). The changing face of Latvian emigration, 2000–2010. In B. Zepa & E. Kļave (Eds.), Latvia. Human development report 2010/2011: National identity, mobility and capability (pp. 77–101). Riga: University of Latvia Press.
Hazans, M. (2012). Selectivity of migrants from Baltic countries before and after enlargement and responses to the crisis. In B. Galgóczi, J. Leschke, & A. Watt (Eds.), Intra-EU migration in troubled times: Skills mismatch, return migration and policy responses (pp. 169–207). Farnham: Ashgate.
Hazans, M. (2013a). Structural or cyclical? Unemployment in Latvia since the 2008–2009 financial crisis. http://www.sseriga.edu/en/news-and-events/upcoming-events/event-archive/2013/presentation.html
Hazans, M. (2013b). Developments in the Latvian Labor Market. Paper presented at the conference Beyond Recovery: Foundations for Inclusive Growth in Riga, 3–4 June 2013. http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Feature%20Story/ECA/Poland%20presentations%20merged.pdf
Hazans, M. (2013c). Emigration from Latvia: Recent trends and economic impact. In OECD (Ed.), Coping with emigration in Baltic and East European countries (pp. 65–110). OECD. doi:10.1787/9789264204928-en.
Hazans, M. (2013d). Riga: Fertility potential, emigration risk and social infrastructure. Riga: Research report to Riga City Council (in Latvian). http://sus.lv/sites/default/files/media/faili/riga_dzimstibas_potencials_emigracijas_draudi_un_sociala_infrastruktura.pdf
Hazans, M. (2014a). Emigration intentions and fertility potential in Latvia. Paper presented at the conference Labor Mobility and Transnationalism in the Nordic-Baltic Region in Tallinn, 7 Mar 2014.
Hazans, M. (2014b). Migration experience of the Baltic countries during and after the economic crisis. Paper presented at the conference Coping with Emigration in the Baltic and East European Countries: Lessons Learned and New Challenges in Riga, 2 Apr 2014. http://www.sseriga.edu/en/news-and-events/upcoming-events/copingwithemigration.html
Hazans, M. (2015a). Return migration intentions to Latvia, based on recent survey of emigrants. Paper presented at the conference Migration in the Nordic – Baltic Region. New Trends of Labour Migration – Ready for the Changes? in Tallinn, 27 Mar 2015. http://www.norden.ee/images/regionaal/info/migra/conference_27032015/Hazans_migra2015.pdf
Hazans, M. (2015b). Poland and the Baltics: The nature of the four emigration waves over 2000–2013. Paper presented at The World Bank – European Commission Joint Seminar on Active Aging in Brussels, 11 Mar 2015. http://www.age-platform.eu/images/stories/PPT/Hazans_Brussels_11March2015.pdf
Hazans, M. (2015c). For many, emigration from Latvia is a success story. Для многих отъезд из Латвии — история успеха (in Russian). Открытый город, 5/2015, pp. 52–57. http://www.freecity.lv/obshestvo/23637/
Hazans, M., Trapeznikova, I., & Rastrigina, O. (2008). Ethnic and parental effects on schooling outcomes before and during the transition: Evidence from the Baltic countries. Journal of Population Economics, 21(3), 719–749.
Hazans, M., & Philips, K. (2010). The post-enlargement migration experience in the Baltic labor markets. In M. Kahanec & K. F. Zimmermann (Eds.), EU labor markets after post-enlargement migration (pp. 255–304). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer. (IZA Discussion Paper No. 5878). http://ftp.iza.org/dp5878.pdf
Holland, D., Fic, T., Rincon-Aznar, A., Stokes, L., & Paluchowski, P. (2011). Labor mobility within the EU – The impact of enlargement and the functioning of the transitional arrangements. London: Study commissioned by the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities, NIESR. http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=7120&langId=en
Hughes, J. (2005). ‘Exit’ in deeply divided societies: Regimes of discrimination in Estonia and Latvia and the potential for Russophone migration. Journal of Common Market Studies, 43(4), 739–762.
Ivlevs, A. (2013). Minorities on the move? Assessing post-enlargement emigration intentions of Latvia’s Russian speaking minority. The Annals of Regional Science, 51(1), 33–52.
Javorcik, B. S., Özden, Ç., Spatareanu, M., & Neagu, C. (2011). Migrant networks and foreign direct investment. Journal of Development Economics, 94, 231–241.
Kaczmarczyk, P. (2013). Matching the skills of return migrants to labor market needs in Poland. In OECD (Ed.), Coping with emigration in Baltic and East European countries (pp. 111–126). OECD. doi:10.1787/9789264204928-en.
Kaczmarczyk, P., Mioduszewska, M., & Żylicz, A. (2010). Impact of the post-accession migration on the polish labor market. In M. Kahanec & K. F. Zimmermann (Eds.), EU labor markets after post-enlargement migration (pp. 219–253). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.
Kahanec, M. (2012). Labor mobility in an enlarged European Union. In A. F. Constant & K. F. Zimmermann (Eds.), International handbook on the economics of migration (pp. 137–152). Cheltenham/Northampton: Edward Elgar.
Kahanec, M., & Fabo, B. (2013). Migration strategies of the crisis-stricken youth in an enlarged European Union. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 19(3), 365–380.
Kahanec, M., & Zimmermann, K. F. (Eds.). (2010). EU labor markets after post-enlargement migration. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.
Kahanec, M., Pytlikova, M., & Zimmermann, K. F. (2016). The free movement of workers in an enlarged European Union: Institutional underpinnings of economic adjustment. In M. Kahanec & K. F. Zimmermann (Eds.), Labor migration, EU enlargement, and the great recession. Heidelberg/Berlin: Springer. Chapter “The Free Movement of Workers in an Enlarged European Union: Institutional Underpinnings of Economic Adjustment” in this volume.
Kugler, M., & Rapoport, H. (2005). Skilled emgration, business networks and foreign direct investment (Munich: CESifo Working Paper Series No. 1455).
Leping, K.-O., & Toomet, O. (2008). Emerging ethnic wage gap: Estonia during political and economic transition. Journal of Comparative Economics, 36(4), 599–619.
Masso, J., & Krillo, K. (2011). Labour markets in the Baltic states during the crisis 2008–2009: The effect on different labour market groups (The University of Tartu Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper No. 79). doi:10.2139/ssrn.1734378.
Masso, J., Eamets, R., & Motsmees, P. (2014). Temporary migrants and occupational mobility: Evidence from the case of Estonia. International Journal of Manpower, 35(6), 753–775.
Mierina, I. (Ed.). (2015). Latvian emigrant communities: The Diaspora of hope. Latvijas emigrantu kopienas: cerību diaspora (in Latvian). Riga: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia. 240 pp.
OECD (2012). Connecting with emigrants. A global profile of diasporas. Paris: OECD Publishing, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264177949-en
OECD. (2014). Database on immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC) 2010/11.
Praakli, K. (2011). The new Estonian community in Finland. In R. Grunthal & M. Kovacs (Eds.), Ethnic and linguistic context of identity. Finno-ugric minorities (pp. 217–247). Helsinki: University of Helsinki.
Pungas, E., Toomet, O., Tammaru, T., & Anniste, K. (2012). Are better educated migrants returning? Evidence from multi-dimensional education data (Tartu: NORFACE Migration Discussion Paper No. 2012–18).
Rose, R. (2000). New Baltic barometer IV: A survey study. Glasgow: Centre for the Study of Public Policy, University of Strathclyde.
Rutkowski, J. (2007). From the shortage of jobs to the shortage of skilled workers: Labor markets in the EU new member states (Bonn: IZA Discussion Paper No. 3202).
Samoškaitė, E. (2012). Poll: Many Lithuanians wish to emigrate permanently (in Lithuanian). http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/emigrants/apklausa-daugelis-lietuviu-emigruoti-visam-laikui-netroksta.d?id = 56287685
Saukienė, I. (2011). Poll: Half of the population somehow thinks about emigration (in Lithuanian). http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/apklausa-apie-emigracija-vienaip-ar-kitaip-masto-puse-salies-gyventoju.d?id=51966417
Sipavičiene, A. & Stankuniene, V. (2013). The social and economic impact of emigration on Lithuania. In OECD (Ed.), Coping with emigration in Baltic and East European countries (pp. 65–110). OECD. doi:10.1787/9789264204928-en.
Sjaastad, L. A. (1962). The costs and returns of human migration. Journal of Political Economy, 70(5), 80–93.
Tammaru, T., & Kulu, T. (2003). The ethnic minorities of Estonia: Changing size, location and composition. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 44(2), 105–120.
Tarum, H. (2014). Migration potential of working-age population in Estonia in 2013 (Tallinn: Policy Analysis, Series of the Ministry of Social Affairs No 2/2014 eng).
Veidemann, B. (2010). Migration potential of working-age population in Estonia in 2010 (Tallinn: Policy Analysis, Series of the Ministry of Social Affairs No 8/2010 eng).
Zasova, A. (2012). Econometric assessment of performance of Latvian labor market. Ph.D. thesis, University of Latvia, Riga.
Zaiceva, A. & Zimmermann, K. F. (2016). Returning home at times of trouble? Return migration of EU enlargement migrants during the crisis. In M. Kahanec & K. F. Zimmermann (Eds.), Labor migration, EU enlargement, and the great recession. Berlin: Springer. Chapter “Returning Home at Times of Trouble? Return Migration of EU Enlargement Migrants During the Crisis” in this volume.
Zepa, B., & Kļave, E. (Eds.). (2011). Latvia. Human development report 2010/2011: National identity, mobility and capability. Riga: University of Latvia Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hazans, M. (2016). Migration Experience of the Baltic Countries in the Context of Economic Crisis. In: Kahanec, M., Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Labor Migration, EU Enlargement, and the Great Recession. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45320-9_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45320-9_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-45319-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-45320-9
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)