Determinación de la actividad biológica de los extractos

Most jobs performed by Poles abroad are those commended to migrants by family members or acquaintances. Since decisions about emigration and chances of finding a job are most frequently conditioned by contacts with other migrants, it is said that there exists the so-called “supranational social space” (Kaczmarczyk, Okólski 2005). Another commonly used source of information is the Internet (Radiukiewicz 2006) – thanks to, among others, online discussion forums potential emigrants acquire information about job and ac- commodation search methods, living costs, etc. from people who have gone abroad earlier. Moreover, the role of employment agen- cies, press articles and other official sources of information is more and more significant.

The intensification of economic migration has given rise to the necessity of developing employment agency services. Regrettably, they are not always reliable or even legal. It is rather frequent that jobs offered to migrants prove to be fictional or they are performed in conditions that are much worse than agreed. At the same time, agents charge a lot for all the information provided. The said fees are usually one-time payments equal to the amount of the first monthly salary, or less frequently periodical – in the form of a fixed percentage of the wage.

The following employment institutions help in the process of finding jobs abroad: employment agencies in Poland, HR advisory, professional and temporary work agencies. Moreover, upon Poland’s accession to the European Union, Poles gained access to the European Employment Service (EURES), which is an information exchange network which brings together public employment serv- ices in the countries belonging to the EEA with other regional, national or international organisations which operate in the sphere of employment.

140

The New Economic Theory of Migration helps also to explain the fact that it is mainly young people who tend to emigrate. The success of the generation of Poles who entered the labour market in mid-1990s incited the professional expectations of the young. Nowadays, however, the situation of graduates in the labour market is more difficult and career opportunities which were available to their older colleagues are now scarcer. Hence, we can talk about a relative deprivation between particular cohorts entering the labour market.

What is more, it can be assumed that young Poles tend to more frequently compare themselves with their peers from Western Europe than older people (e.g. due to their better command of foreign languages, better Internet skills, participation in international student exchange programmes, etc.). Such wider reference group boosts the professional aspirations and expectations of the young genera- tion of Poles who may thus sense greater dissatisfaction with their own economic situation. Consequently, they tend to decide more often to go abroad where they can count on better wages, although often at the cost of performing jobs that are below their qualifica- tions.

1.5 Determinants of Polish international migration at aggregate level

In the preceding section, we have presented an overview of factors which affect individual decisions about migration. Factors which form such decisions at the individual level should translate into the extent of migration at the aggregate level and be reflected in the composition of the migration flow. Determinants of international migration at the aggregate level can be divided into:

•

push factors from the sending country (relatively low wages, high unemployment, low employment growth, relatively high living costs, etc.)

•

pull factors to the receiving country (high wages, high absorption of labour force which leads to low unemployment and dynamic employment growth, relatively low living costs).

The public debate on Polish economic migration is dominated by the view that relatively high international mobility is mainly due to the difficult situation in the labour market as well as to low wages in Poland. Hence, it is assessed that push factors are of decisive importance. Discussions in the media in the countries which have opened their labour markets often emphasise that robust economic growth, high wages and high labour demand in the rapidly developing services sector in the receiving countries are the factors which attracted workers from the new member states:. Another important group of factors affecting the movement of human resources between countries are institutional factors, e.g. immigration policy of the receiving country2 _{which pertains mostly to the use and} removal of barriers to the free movement of workers. The fact of channelling the flow of migration immediately after the accession of ten new member states to those Western European countries which have opened their labour markets (Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden) evidently illustrates how institutional factors can affect the destinations migration flows. In particular, under common market condi- tions, limitations to the free movement of labour force – although they can decrease the scale of immigration to some extent – lead above all to the application of illegal practices when employing immigrants. If demand for foreign labour and supply of foreign work- ers are high, restrictive immigration policies lead inevitably to the development of the shadow economy. This phenomenon can be observed nowadays in a number of European countries, especially with respect to immigrants from Africa but also to seasonal workers from Central and Eastern Europe.

It is difficult to objectively assess the role of particular aggregate and individual determinants of migration not only because of the quality of the available data but also because of the multidimensional nature of migration. In the literature on the subject, however, there is a consensus that the main factors responsible for increased migration from relatively poorer to richer countries, including from the NMS8 to the EU15 following the EU enlargement, are on the one hand: lower wages and living standards as well as the insufficiently developed services sector in the sending countries, and on the other hand, high labour demand in the receiving countries.

Moreover, the migration flow should be:

•

the larger, the more numerous the early working age population, characterised by relatively low wages in the sending country, and the greater the probability that these people find jobs abroad and generate higher income than that generated in their country of residence,

•

the larger, the greater the differences in income levels between the sending and the receiving countries,

•

the smaller, the higher the transaction costs (connected with the legal terms and conditions of engaging in work abroad, overseas family network, cost of travel between the sending and the receiving countries),

•

the smaller, the greater the difference in living cost levels,

•

the smaller, the stronger the institutional and cultural barriers between countries. A synthetic collation of individual and aggregate determinants of migration is presented in Table III.6.

20 _{It seems that emigration policies in democratic countries are of smaller extent – they are limited to a more or less active participation in the establishment of conditions for a free choice}

141 Table III.6.

Determinants of inclination to migrate at the individual level and their impact on factors at the aggregate level

Source: Own elaboration

1.6. Impact of international migration on the labour market and economy

The process of international migration gives rise to many controversies both in the country which is the source of emigration (sending country) and in the destination country of the flow of migrants (receiving country). Opponents of migration pronounce many critical views thus pointing to its adverse impact on the economies of sending and receiving countries alike. Migration supporters, on the other hand, stress the evidently positive – in their opinion – aspects of international movements of people. According to the former, the net outcome of the economic processes is bound to be negative, whereas the latter claim that this outcome is in fact positive.

According to migration sceptics, potential threats that international migration may pose are generally similar for countries receiving and sending migrants. Negative phenomena that emigration apparently causes in sending countries include above all concerns that it can lead to increased deficits in the labour market – especially in certain professions and specialist areas, and accelerate the imbalance in public finances due to lost tax income generated by people at the age of maximum economic activity and unchanged expenditures on benefits for the elderly. Additionally, emigration gives rise to concerns about the economic growth potential in sending countries when the most motivated and enterprising as well as best educated people decide to migrate. As for receiving countries, fears are often voiced about excessive competition in the labour market as a consequence of large population inflows and about the resulting wage drops and increased unemployment among local workers. At the same time, the imbalance in public finances is said to increase because budgetary expenditures on benefits granted to immigrants would exceed income from taxes paid by them. Moreover, im- migrants are said to slow down (temporarily) economic growth because their human capital and savings are too low to quickly fill the gap in capital per capita and in investment on research and development.

Determinants at the individual level

higher expected income abroad

transaction cost

difference in living cost levels

relative deprivation

professional experience and skills

cost of breaking social ties and adapting to new environment

Determinants at the aggregate level

•

average wage offered to employees (with a given level and type of qualifications) in the country of residence of a potential emigrant

•

expected wage in the destination country of potential migration (with assumptions concerning the type of work which can – with a degree of probability – be undertaken in such country)

•

unemployment and employment rates (number of new jobs) in the country of residence of a potential emigrant

•

unemployment and employment rates (number of new jobs) for groups of people with a similar level and type of qualifications in the destination country of potential migration

•

legal regulations determining the possibility of engaging in legal work in the country of potential migration (risk connected with illegal employment, cost of the work permit application)

•

distance between the destination and the source countries

•

existence of a contact network connecting family members and acquaintances in the destination country of potential migration (diaspora size and level of migration in preceding years)

•

difference in average living costs in the destination and source countries (mainly cost of accommodation)

•

risk of relative deprivation in the sending country reflected in income inequalities in a given region or social group

•

barriers which make it difficult to fully use the knowledge and skills acquired in the source country when working in the destination country of potential migration (cultural links, language, etc.)

•

role of family and traditions versus taste for migration in the culture of the sending country,

•

population structure by age and education

•

general living conditions: climate, political and economic stability

142

Migration enthusiasts provide a similar catalogue of positive phenomena which are said to arise in connection with migration proc- esses and concern countries sending and receiving migrants alike. They claim that immigration of better qualified and highly industri- ous people constitutes an additional pro-growth impulse in the destination country. Consequently, they argue that immigrants help to fill the employment gap in sectors which lack sufficiently qualified local workers and to remedy the problem of aging society thus allowing the population of the receiving country to keep up high social insurance and retirement benefits. As for sending countries, supporters of migration emphasise that migration is a cure for high unemployment because it relieves the local labour market and that emigrants, who tend to send significant amounts of money back home, support the home economy and increase the living standards of their families who stay in the source country. What is more, the potentiality of emigrating may encourage a number to people to improve their qualifications and invest in human capital, whereas in the long run only some of them would actually go abroad. Also, many today’s emigrants are likely to return to their home country in the future and bring along their savings thus feeding and develop- ing the national economy.

A number of empirical studies in the field of labour economics have been carried out to verify the views of supporters and opponents of international migration (see, for instance, Friedberg, Hunt 1995, Ghatak et al. 1996, Borjas 1999, Commander et al. 2003, Drinkwater et al. 2003). Based on the above research it can be stated that in the case of receiving countries both concerns and hopes are justified to some extent, although the actual impact of immigration on the economy and labour market is generally not excessively large, mainly due to the moderate contribution of migrants to total human capital resources in the economy of the receiving country.

It seems that the postulate about the pressure exerted by immigrants resulting in the limitation of growth of wages offered to local workers is in fact viable, although this pressure is actually rather small (i.e. 10 per cent increase in the number of workers causes a 1-3 per cent drop in wages of local workers). There are, however, some specific sectors which are exceptions to the above rule and which tend to become dominated by immigrants who thus fill deficits in the labour market of the receiving country. Secondly, most first- generation immigrants work and pay taxes and therefore do not constitute a burden for the social insurance system or public finances. At the same time, examples of some countries demonstrate that the situation is slightly different for second-generation immigrants, although this depends on how well they assimilate in the receiving country.

One economic conclusion is that the impact of immigration on the level of output in receiving countries is positive though relatively small (i.e. 10 per cent increase in the number of workers causes a 1-2 per cent increase in output levels), which is due to the fact that because of immigration the labour supply of local workers slightly decreases and that immigrants engage in simple, low-productivity and low-wage jobs. This impact is greater, if a large share of migrants consists of highly qualified people. As a result, immigration helps to remedy problems connected with the ageing of the population at most to a marginal extent and because immigrants often assume the procreation model of the receiving country it is also a remedy that only delays these problems rather than prevent them.

Although the economic literature seems to support immigration related hopes rather than concerns of receiving countries, in the case of sending countries the situation is right the opposite – even though the actual impact of immigration on sending countries is also relatively limited. To begin with, it should be noted that the extent of emigration varies significantly between countries as well as in time. It also strongly depends on the scale of individual benefits that emigrants expect to derive from migration as well as on vari- ous institutional possibilities of leaving the source country for destination countries. Thus, emigration rarely exceeds 5 per cent of the population in the economically productive age and in fact it is more likely to reach much lower levels. Hence, concerns about potential depopulation of sending countries are unfounded.

Despite the confirmed negative impact of emigration on output due to brain drain, it usually is not very large because of the limited scale of this phenomenon and the positive effect on the accumulation of human capital in sending countries (i.e. brain gain prevails over brain drain). As for money transfers to source countries, they often exert a considerable positive impact on the living standards and drop in poverty of the families of emigrants – especially in Third World countries – but at the same time they often lead to the strengthening of economic and social inactivity behaviour. When it comes to return migration, the situation is a little bit more complex. Although only a small share of migrants from Third World countries returns to their home countries, the extent of return migration among European emigrants is much higher. What is more, former emigrants are more inclined than their families back home to pro- ductively use the income earned from their work abroad.

To sum up, it can be said that international migration brings advantages and disadvantages to sending and receiving countries alike. Benefits derived by receiving countries are smaller but they last longer, whereas drawbacks concern only some social groups. The latter are the greater, the more educated the immigrants are. As for drawbacks on the part of sending countries, they are temporarily minimalised by the flow of money transfers sent to the families of emigrants as well as by increased accumulation of human capital. Economic policies which minimalise these drawbacks in sending countries are simply policies that enhance rapid economic growth and real convergence in relation to receiving countries

143

2. Internal mobility and work commuting

2.1 Intensity of internal migration in Poland compared with other EU countries

In accordance with the NPC data, the number of people who changed their region of residence in the period 1989-2002 and moved elsewhere in the country can be estimated at 3,924,300, out of whom approx. 70 per cent moved within one poviat and approx. 25 per cent – within one voivodeship.21 _{The average annual share of migrants aged 15-64 amounted to approx. 1 per cent in 1989-2002.}

Their actual intensity, however, was most probably higher because some migrants recorded in the NPC moved at least twice, whereas the methodology did not allow for multiple entries.22 _{Hence, a question emerges about how Poland compares to other European}

countries in terms of mobility.

In the literature on spatial mobility in Poland, it is often assessed that the extent of internal migration is relatively low as compared with other Western European countries (see, for instance, OECD 2005, World Bank 2006a). Such statement should be subject some reservations, however. Above all, when comparing the intensity of internal migration across countries, one should keep in mind that the European countries differ substantially with respect to the size and density of populations of territorial units across countries or differences in the number of regions. This concerns in particular the NUTS classification and NUTS-2 regions, which correspond to voivodeships in Poland and for which the comparative analysis is feasible. In accordance with the basic “laws of gravity” formulated by the forerunners of research on the processes of mobility, the number of inhabitants and the distance to the migration destination are the key determinants of the intensity of migration (see Box III.14). Hence, the level of migration intensity (measured as a percentage share of people moving to a different region within one year) should decrease as the area of a given territorial unit increases. For this reason, only in the case of some European countries – namely France, Hungary, Italy and Spain – migration statistics are comparable at

In document Correlación de la actividad biológica con el perfil metabolómico de Jatropha dioica. (página 85-90)