International Migration

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International migration is no easy matter, and people don’t make the choice casually to uproot their lives and leave home and family behind. Migration occurs for many reasons. Many people leave their home countries in order to look for better economic opportunities abroad. Others migrate to be with family members or because of political conditions in their countries. Education is another reason for international migration, as students pursue their studies abroad. These migrants can be divided into two large groups, permanent and temporary. Permanent migrants aim to establish their permanent residence in a new country and perhaps obtain that country’s citizenship. Temporary migrants aim to stay for a limited periods of time; perhaps until the end of a particular program of study or for the duration of their work contract. Both types of migrants have a significant effect on the economies and societies on both countries. Almost all migrants use the same reasons for migrating to a different country. First, it could be due to employment opportunities and the wage gap among geographical locations. We all know how the wage rate of $15-20/day in the United States had been encouraging the Mexicans to leave their country. It is also for this wage difference that many people from third world Asian countries are gambling their lives to go to the Middle East, Europe or to some other countries. Second, labor demand has increased in some countries with high economic growth. Economic theory suggests that, shortage of labor pushes up the price of the labor or the wage rate, and in consequence, the price of the service where the labor gives efforts also goes up. For this reason, the country is likely to face loss, making it difficult to survive in the world market. On the other hand, the price of labor is likely to remain low in a labor abundant economy. Therefore, it is quite natural for labors to move from abundant to shortage areas until the wage gap is reduced. There are two...
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