3 results
10 - Optimising Migration Effects: A Perspective from Bulgaria
- Edited by Richard Black, Godfried Engbersen, Marek Okólski, Cristina Panţîru
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- Book:
- A Continent Moving West?
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 03 February 2021
- Print publication:
- 15 July 2012, pp 207-230
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Summary
Introduction
Research on Bulgarian migration has been rather sketchy, often being based either on small purposive samples in selected host countries or on macro data of unreliable quality from Bulgaria itself. More recently, some analyses have focused on certain socio-economic impacts of the emigration phenomenon on Bulgaria. These analyses mainly refer to the effects of remittances and of a ‘brain drain’ on labour supply and on family structures, particularly on the children of migrant parents.
A better and more thorough understanding of the positive and negative consequences of migration for Bulgaria is needed as this would heighten the possibility for policymaking, both in receiving and origin countries, to help optimise the benefits of migration. This chapter aims to enhance this understanding by identifying the size and nature as well as the dynamics of emigration, providing empirical evidence on the economic and social costs and benefits of emigration for Bulgaria and discussing the most recent government measures to maximise the benefits of migration. The chapter concludes by summarising the major challenges for policymakers in Bulgaria.
The discussion is supported by data from the 2001 population census in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian National Bank, the National Statistical Institute, the Institute for Market Economics, the OECD and the Council of Europe, the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, in-depth interviews with local authority officials and returned seasonal migrants (Guentcheva, Kabakchieva & Kolarski 2003) and quantitative evidence from household survey data (Mintchev & Boshnakov 2006), together with micro survey data collected by the author (Markova 2001; Markova & Sarris 2002; Markova 2006; Markova & Reilly 2007). The last section of the chapter draws on policy documents produced by the Bulgarian government.
The dynamics of migration from Bulgaria: An overview
The period: September 1944 – November 1989
The end of World War II marked a fundamental change in the migratory processes and policies in Bulgaria and a new era for Bulgarian ethnic minorities as well. A ban on the free movement of Bulgarian citizens was introduced through sophisticated border policing systems and a very restrictive and highly complicated system for issuing passports. Bulgarian emigration in this period was predominantly motivated by political reasons or was related to ethnicity. Labour emigration was entirely controlled by the state.
CHAPTER SIX - Legal Status and Migrant Economic Performance: The Case of Bulgarians in Spain and Greece
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- By Eugenia Markova, London Metropolitan University
- Edited by Stefanos Katsikas
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- Book:
- Bulgaria and Europe
- Published by:
- Anthem Press
- Published online:
- 05 March 2012
- Print publication:
- 01 June 2010, pp 91-112
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Summary
Introduction
This chapter discusses some aspects of Bulgarian migrant economic performance in the host labour markets of Spain and Greece. The analysis is based on my empirical work in these countries. Migrant performance is defined by occupational attainment, namely, first and last or most recent job in the host country, competition in employment with native workers and migrant remitting/saving patterns. Two other definitions are adopted in the analysis. Foreigners are those who enter a country either illegally or legally and then take up employment there, but having neither a residence nor a work permit or being in violation of their entry visas. In contrast, legalized foreigners are those undocumented foreigners who manage to successfully complete a regularization programme of the host country government.
Migrants' economic performance and their degree of integration into the receiving labour market determine to a very large extent the overall assessment of the economic impact of immigration. In the case of Europe, empirical evidence on the economic impact of immigration, regardless of migrant country of origin, suggests that the derivation of robust qualitative results is a very difficult – even hopeless – task, because of the nature of the data and the inherent heterogeneity of the phenomenon. There is serious concern about the lack of access to additional, individual-based data, without which the task of estimating the effects of immigration would never be completed.2 This research contributes towards filling this knowledge gap.
3 - Migration and Development: Causes and Consequences
- Edited by Rinus Penninx, Maria Berger, Karen Kraal
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- Book:
- The Dynamics of Migration and Settlement in Europe
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 23 January 2021
- Print publication:
- 28 August 2006, pp 41-64
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Summary
Introduction
With some notable exceptions, academic and policy attention for international migration has focused to a far greater extent on countries of destination than on countries of origin. Research projects have been motivated primarily by concerns of receiving societies, funded by agencies in destination countries and based on data collected on the receiving side. But it is clear that migration studies cannot do without indepth understanding of the sending context. In turn, a relative knowledge gap in this area has become particularly salient in the beginning of the 21st century as various receiving countries in Europe are increasingly acknowledging the importance of the ‘partnership with the countries of origin’ in devising migration policies (Communities 2000).
In this context, this chapter is focused on work on migration from a developing or sending country perspective. Until relatively recently, research evidence was largely negative about the relationship between migration and development. On the one hand, migration was often seen as a product of poverty; whilst at the same time, international migration and rural-urban migration within developing countries alike were seen as draining human capital from poor areas, creating or reinforcing dependence, and undermining regional development strategies in sending areas. In turn, despite some reviews in the early to mid- 1990s that took a more critical stance (Papademetriou and Martin 1991; Durand and Massey 1992; Taylor et al. 1996) and the emergence of the ‘new economics of labour migration’ as a theoretical approach that seeks to explain why poor households invest in migration (Stark and Lucas 1988; Stark 1991) rather than acting out of desperation or dependence, public policy towards migration within the development field remained sceptical at best.
However, in the last few years, several new reviews have been carried out, which not only have taken a more positive stance towards the relationship between migration and development, but have started to influence development policy as well. From the academic side, influential overviews have been provided by Skeldon (1997) and Massey et al. (1998). Impacts on policy have also been increasingly evident, especially where reviews have been funded by development cooperation agencies.