05.12.2016 | ZEF: Workshop in Bonn – Migration and Development

We would like to invite you to an international policy workshop on ‘Migration and Development’ on December 5, 2016 at the University Club of the University of Bonn.  The workshop is organized by the European Development Research Network, the network of leading development economists in Europe, and supported generously by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, and co-organized with the Center for Development Research (ZEF).

While the refugee crisis in Europe and its North African and Middle Eastern neighborhood has occupied European  policy-makers and the public for the past 1-2 years, this is just a small part of a much larger picture of global migration flows.  Migration flows are very large among industrialized countries (including particularly also the European Union where free movement of people is a central right), but of particular note are the large and rising flows of people from developing countries.  They include legal economic migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as illegal migrants.  These migration flows are particularly large in several corridors, including from Arab and South Asian states to the Middle East, from Africa, South-Eastern Europe and the Middle East to Western Europe, from Southeastern Europe and Central Asia to Russia, from Latin America to the USA, and from poorer South-East Asia countries to richer neighbors, among others.  By now, South-South migration flows are about as large as South-North migration flows.  These large migration flows and associated remittances have large implications on development prospects of developing countries.  Already now, remittances are about three times as large as ODA, at $414billion in 2014, and provide key financing for households to invest and deal with shocks.  Migrants build and transmit skills, social capital, and values, and help address labor shortages in receiving countries.

At the same time, these flows pose challenges for sending countries who lose mostly young and skilled people, families are left behind, and the remittances, though welcome, can affect macroeconomic aggregates.  They also pose challenges to receiving countries, where workers might fear competition, where social security systems can, at least temporarily, come under strain, and where integration of migrants might pose challenges and resistance.

There are many policy issues emanating from this.  Among them are: What types of immigration policies can and should receiving countries adopt to support development-friendly migration regimes? To what extent should different types of flows be managed? Can and should sending countries manage migrant flows, facilitate the migration process and remittance flows?

The goal of this year’s European Development Conference, organized by the European Development Research Network with support from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development is to look at migration from this more comprehensive perspective, focusing on the opportunities and challenges for developing countries, and the implications for policies in sending and receiving countries.

Preliminary Program

9:00-9:30             Conference Opening (Elke Löbel, BMZ (tbc) , Stephan Klasen, President, European Development Research Network, Joachim von Braun, ZEF)

9:30-10:30           Overview lecture: Migration for Development: Opportunities and Challenges

Klaus Zimmermann (Visiting Scholar, Harvard University and Senior Fellow of Center   for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn University), lecture

11:00-12:30        Panel 1: The development impact of migration for sending countries

Hillel Rapoport (Paris School of Economics), lecture

Toman Barsbai (Kiel Institute), discussant

Marta Foresti (ODI, tbc), discussant

13:30-15:00        Panel 2: How to improve the migration process

Dean Yang (University of Michigan), lecture

Isabel Ruiz (Oxford, tbc), discussant

Steffen Angenendt (tbc), discussant

15:30-17:00       Panel 3: How to promote integration of migrants

Christian Dustmann (University College London, tbc)

Christina Gathmann (Heidelberg University, tbc)

Axel Kreienbrink (BAMF, tbc)

17:00-18:30        Policy Panel: Migration policies for development

Francois Bourguignon (Paris School of Economics, moderator)

Caglar Ozden (World Bank, tbc)

Marta Foresti (Overseas Development Institute, tbc)

Jakob Rhyner, (United Nations University)

Elke Löbel (BMZ, tbc)

Eugenio Ambrosi (International Organization for Migration)

 

Source: Notification ZEF, 08.09.2016We would like to invite you to an international policy workshop on ‘Migration and Development’ on December 5, 2016 at the University Club of the University of Bonn.  The workshop is organized by the European Development Research Network, the network of leading development economists in Europe, and supported generously by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, and co-organized with the Center for Development Research (ZEF).

While the refugee crisis in Europe and its North African and Middle Eastern neighborhood has occupied European  policy-makers and the public for the past 1-2 years, this is just a small part of a much larger picture of global migration flows.  Migration flows are very large among industrialized countries (including particularly also the European Union where free movement of people is a central right), but of particular note are the large and rising flows of people from developing countries.  They include legal economic migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as illegal migrants.  These migration flows are particularly large in several corridors, including from Arab and South Asian states to the Middle East, from Africa, South-Eastern Europe and the Middle East to Western Europe, from Southeastern Europe and Central Asia to Russia, from Latin America to the USA, and from poorer South-East Asia countries to richer neighbors, among others.  By now, South-South migration flows are about as large as South-North migration flows.  These large migration flows and associated remittances have large implications on development prospects of developing countries.  Already now, remittances are about three times as large as ODA, at $414billion in 2014, and provide key financing for households to invest and deal with shocks.  Migrants build and transmit skills, social capital, and values, and help address labor shortages in receiving countries.

At the same time, these flows pose challenges for sending countries who lose mostly young and skilled people, families are left behind, and the remittances, though welcome, can affect macroeconomic aggregates.  They also pose challenges to receiving countries, where workers might fear competition, where social security systems can, at least temporarily, come under strain, and where integration of migrants might pose challenges and resistance.

There are many policy issues emanating from this.  Among them are: What types of immigration policies can and should receiving countries adopt to support development-friendly migration regimes? To what extent should different types of flows be managed? Can and should sending countries manage migrant flows, facilitate the migration process and remittance flows?

The goal of this year’s European Development Conference, organized by the European Development Research Network with support from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development is to look at migration from this more comprehensive perspective, focusing on the opportunities and challenges for developing countries, and the implications for policies in sending and receiving countries.

Preliminary Program

9:00-9:30             Conference Opening (Elke Löbel, BMZ (tbc) , Stephan Klasen, President, European Development Research Network, Joachim von Braun, ZEF)

9:30-10:30           Overview lecture: Migration for Development: Opportunities and Challenges

Klaus Zimmermann (Visiting Scholar, Harvard University and Senior Fellow of Center   for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn University), lecture

11:00-12:30        Panel 1: The development impact of migration for sending countries

Hillel Rapoport (Paris School of Economics), lecture

Toman Barsbai (Kiel Institute), discussant

Marta Foresti (ODI, tbc), discussant

13:30-15:00        Panel 2: How to improve the migration process

Dean Yang (University of Michigan), lecture

Isabel Ruiz (Oxford, tbc), discussant

Steffen Angenendt (tbc), discussant

15:30-17:00       Panel 3: How to promote integration of migrants

Christian Dustmann (University College London, tbc)

Christina Gathmann (Heidelberg University, tbc)

Axel Kreienbrink (BAMF, tbc)

17:00-18:30        Policy Panel: Migration policies for development

Francois Bourguignon (Paris School of Economics, moderator)

Caglar Ozden (World Bank, tbc)

Marta Foresti (Overseas Development Institute, tbc)

Jakob Rhyner, (United Nations University)

Elke Löbel (BMZ, tbc)

Eugenio Ambrosi (International Organization for Migration)

 

Source: Notification ZEF, 08.09.2016