2019/07/08 by Christian Dustmann, Ian Preston · 1 citation
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Computer science #Economics #Employment and Welfare Studies #Free movement #International economics #Labor mobility #Limit (mathematics) #Market economy #Microeconomics #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Point (geometry) #Political science #Politics #Public economics #Variety (cybernetics) #Welfare
paper · doi:10.1146/annurev-economics-080218-025843
openalex publication_date 2019/07/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Straightforward economic arguments point to the potential for large global output gains from the movement of labor from less to more productive locations. Yet the politics of receiving countries seems resistant, characterized rather by efforts to limit migration or to stop it altogether. In this article we examine the foundations of claims of large welfare gains through free mobility, studying implications of liberalizing migration for world welfare under a variety of models, paying attention not only to overall gains but also to how gains are distributed and reviewing attempts to quantify the benefits. We conclude by asking how far considerations beyond economics motivate keenness to impose restrictions on migration.