revised version published in: European Economic Review, 2008, 52 (7), 1160-1186
Recent migration patterns show growing migration pressure and changing composition of
immigrants in many Western countries. During the latest decade, an increasing proportion of
the OECD immigrants have been from poor countries, where the educational level of the
population is low. The migration patterns may be affected by the relatively generous welfare
schemes in most OECD countries, but also network effects and migration policy changes
may be important factors behind the observed development. This paper presents empirical
evidence on immigration flows into 27 OECD countries during a period of 11 years, 1990–
2000. Using a panel data model, we analyze the determinants of the migration flows. Our
results indicate that traditional factors as cultural and linguistic distance are important.
Network effects are also strong, but vary between source and destination countries. We do
not find clear evidence that selection effects have had a major influence on the observed
migration patterns until now. This may partly be explained by restrictive migration policies in
many OECD countries which may have dampened the potential selection effects.
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