Managing Labor Migration in the Twenty-First Century

Why have ninety million workers around the globe left their homes for employment in other countries? What can be done to ensure that international labor migration is a force for global betterment? This groundbreaking book presents the most comprehensive analysis of the causes and effects of labor migration available, and it recommends sensible, sustainable migration policies that are fair to migrants and to the countries that open their doors to them. The authors survey recent trends in international migration for employment and demonstrate that the flow of authorized and illegal workers over borders presents a formidable challenge in countries and regions throughout the world. They note that not all migration is from undeveloped to developed countries and discuss the murky relations between immigration policies and politics. The book concludes with specific recommendations for justly managing the world’s growing migrant workforce.

Philip Martin is a professor at the University of California, Davis, and chairman of the UC Comparative Immigration and Integration Program. Manolo Abella is the head of the International Migration Programme of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva. Christiane Kuptsch is senior research officer at the ILO’s International Institute for Labour Studies.