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European immigrants in the UK before and after the 2004 enlargement: Is there a change in immigrant self-selection?

Author

Listed:
  • Simonetta Longhi

    (Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex)

  • Magdalena Rokicka

    (Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex)

Abstract

The 2004 accession of Eastern European countries (EU8) to the European Union has generated concerns about the influx of low-skill immigrants to the Western member states (EU15). Only three countries, namely Ireland, Sweden, and the UK, did not impose restrictions to immigration from Eastern Europe. Did the elimination of barrier to immigration have an impact on the quality of immigrants arriving to the UK? Using EU15 immigrants as a control group, we find systematic differences between EU8 immigrants arrived before and after the enlargement. The elimination of barriers to immigration seems to have changed the quantity and quality of EU8 immigrants to the UK.

Suggested Citation

  • Simonetta Longhi & Magdalena Rokicka, 2012. "European immigrants in the UK before and after the 2004 enlargement: Is there a change in immigrant self-selection?," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1232, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    • Handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:1232
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Martin Kahanec, 2013. "Labor mobility in an enlarged European Union," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 7, pages 137-152, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Battiston, Diego, 2013. "The impact of immigration on the labour market: Evidence from 20 years of cross-border migration to Argentina," MPRA Paper 52424, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Altorjai, Szilvia, 2013. "Over-qualification of immigrants in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-11, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Anna Rosso, 2016. "Skill Transferability and Immigrant-Native Wage Gaps," Development Working Papers 405, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 21 Oct 2016.
    4. Christoph Skupnik, 2014. "EU enlargement and the race to the bottom of welfare states," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Qiantao A. Zhang & Brian M. Lucey, 2019. "Globalisation, the Mobility of Skilled Workers, and Economic Growth: Constructing a Novel Brain Drain/Gain Index for European Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1620-1642, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    EU enlargement; East-West migration; UK labour market; self-selection.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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