Approaches to Geo-mathematical Modelling

Chapter 2The Effects of Economic and Labour Market Inequalities on Interregional Migration in Europe

Adam Dennett

2.1 Introduction

This chapter employs migration flow data to explore the effects of economic and labour market inequalities on interregional migration in Europe. The data are the estimates obtained from the bi-proportional fitting model described in Chapter 6 of this volume (and also in Dennett and Wilson, 2013). The migration of people is always of interest to governments and policy makers. In countries like the United Kingdom where the balance of net migration is towards immigration, concern can swing between, on the one hand, the benefits brought by migrants such as their skills and contribution to growth and the economy, and, on the other hand, the demand that they might place on finite resources such as housing and services. Where the balance of net migration is towards emigration, different but no less important issues may be of concern, such as the loss of human capital or the benefits accrued by remittances.

The economic crisis, which began in 2008 and which has affected much of the Western world, has forced the issue of migration higher up the political agenda of many countries. In Europe, right-wing anti-immigration parties have been gaining traction in many places (Golden Dawn in Greece, UKIP in the UK and Le Front National in France) and are an unwelcome marker that increased political unease over migration when national resources are being squeezed. ...