The Ties That Bind: Immigration and the Global Political Economy

478 Pages·2023·7.185 MB·English

by  David Leblang, Benjamin Helms

The Ties That Bind
Migration is among the central domestic and global political issues of
today.Yetthecausesandconsequences–andtherelationshipbetween
migration and global markets – are poorly understood. Migration is
bothcostlyandrisky,sowhydopeopledecidetomigrate?Whatarethe
political,social,economic,andenvironmentalfactorsthatcausepeople
to leave their homes and seek a better life elsewhere? Leblang and
Helms argue that political factors – the ability to participate in the
politicallifeofadestination–areasimportantaseconomicandsocial
factors.Mostmigrantsdon’tcuttieswiththeirhomelandbutcontinue
tobeengaged,botheconomicallyandpolitically.Migrantscontinueto
serve as a conduit for information, helping drive investment to their
homelands. The authors combine theory with a wealth of micro and
macroevidencetodemonstratethatmigrationisn’tstatic,afterall,but
continuouslyfluid.
David Leblang is Ambassador Henry Taylor Professor of Politics and
ProfessorofPublicPolicyattheUniversityofVirginia.
Benjamin HelmsisPostdoctoralFellowattheInstituteforPoliticsand
StrategyatCarnegieMellonUniversity.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
The Ties That Bind
Immigration and the Global Political Economy
DAVID LEBLANG
UniversityofVirginia
BENJAMIN HELMS
CarnegieMellonUniversity
Published online by Cambridge University Press
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781009233224
:10.1017/9781009233248
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:Leblang,David,author.|Helms,Benjamin,1994–author.
:Thetiesthatbind:immigrationandtheglobalpoliticaleconomy/DavidLeblang,
BenjaminHelms.
:Cambridge;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2023.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
:2022022796(print)|2022022797(ebook)|
9781009233224(hardback)|9781009233279(paperback)|
9781009233248(epub)
::Emigrationandimmigration–Economicaspects.|Globalization.|
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:6217.432023(print)|6217(ebook)|304.8–dc23/
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978-1-009-23322-4Hardback
978-1-009-23327-9Paperback
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Published online by Cambridge University Press
To my mother, Susan, and the memory of my father,
Larry D.L.
To my mother, Janet, and my father,
Clay B.H.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Contents
List of Figures and Tables pageix
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Introduction: Immigration and Globalization 1
2 Origins: WhyDo PeopleMigrate? 16
3 Destinations:WhereDo MigrantsGo? 58
4 DiasporaBonds:Global Migration and
International Investment 91
5 Origin Statecraft: Remittancesand Diaspora Engagement 129
6 Destination Statecraft: Labor Market Policy and the
Regulation of Migration 168
7 Conclusion: Migration and theFutureof Globalization 201
References 217
Index 249
vii
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Figures and Tables
Figures
1.1: Trends inglobalmigration, 1960–2017. page 2
1.2: Global migration by corridor, 1960–2017. 7
1.3: Global financial flows to low- and middle-income
countries, 1980–2018. 11
2.1: Potential emigration by region. 18
2.2: Aspiration-and-ability framework. 20
2.3: Potential emigration by educational attainment. 24
2.4: Emigration intentionsand plans by country. 32
2.5: Average public goods satisfactionscoreby country. 33
2.6 Average confidence innational institutions score by country. 34
2.7: Average safety perception score by country. 35
2.8: Political conditions and emigration intentions. 37
2.9: Political conditions, education, and emigration intentions. 39
3.1: Citizenship rightsacross OECD destination countries. 66
3.2: Radicalright-wing party support across OECD destination
countries. 67
3.3: Trends inentrypolicy across OECD destination countries. 68
3.4: Political rightsandmigration flows to OECD destination
countries. 71
3.5: Robustness of results across different sets of origin countries. 73
3.6: Interaction between political rights and bilateral distance. 74
4.1: Political institutions and investment. 93
4.2: Effect of migrantnetworks on portfolioinvestment for
countrycorridors. 113
ix
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