University of Twente Student Theses

Login

European Member States’ preference to pick the best and talented migrants over large waves of immigrants to tackle demographic challenges

Appel, Lioba (2012) European Member States’ preference to pick the best and talented migrants over large waves of immigrants to tackle demographic challenges.

[img] PDF
1MB
Abstract:Demographic change in Europe is one of the major concerns of the 21st century. The challenges caused by the demographic change are numerous but the focus is put on the phenomenon of a declining workforce. Europe’s declining workforce threatens economic growth as well as innovation and solutions are highly debated in politics. As one possible and compared to other measures fast solution, the concept of Replacement Migration was stimulated by the UN Population division in 2000 and enjoys considerable attention since then. This is especially due to the great opportunity it offers but also to the social and cultural concerns that are brought with it. This paper takes a closer look at how national governments evaluate and use the often criticized concept of RM to tackle the phenomenon of a shrinking workforce and whether this perception is determined by the degree of workforce decline in the respective MS. The following research question emerges: To what extent does a shrinking workforce in EU countries explain the extent to which the governments of these countries emphasize RM? “ In order to answer this question, a comparative policy analysis was conducted among four European MS, namely Germany, France, Poland and the UK. By studying official governmental documents, the analysis observes the MS migration legislation with regard to its openness and possible support for RM and puts it in relation to the MS workforce development. The comparative policy analysis proofs the theory right in saying that MS are rather opposed to the concept of RM due to social and cultural concerns. Although the analysis could not find a perfect relationship between the variable degree of workforce decline and use of RM, a clear tendency could be observed that MS with a rather severe workforce decline implement comparably more migration friendly policies while countries that won’t face a workforce decline within the next decades, are more likely to drive a harsh migration policy. The research let’s assume that a third variable, namely public opinion could be a better explanation for the willingness of MS to use RM as a solution to the phenomenon of a shrinking workforce.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration BSc (56834)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/61889
Export this item as:BibTeX
EndNote
HTML Citation
Reference Manager

 

Repository Staff Only: item control page