Migration and Development on the South-North Frontier: A Comparison of the Mexico-US and Morocco-EU cases

This paper aims to improve our understanding of migration-development links by comparing the Mexico-US and Morocco-EU cases. Despite significant differences, Mexico and Morocco share a common geopolitical location on the global South-North migration frontier and a common position as prime reserves o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of ethnic and migration studies 2013-08, Vol.39 (7), p.1041-1065
Main Authors: de Haas, Hein, Vezzoli, Simona
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural development
Agriculture
Business cycles
Comparative Analysis
Destinations
Development
Diversification
Economic change
Economic development
Economic inequality
Equality
Europe
European Union
Geopolitics
Government policy
Inequality
Informal sector
International Migration
Labor market
Labor Migration
Labour market
Liberalization
Mexican Americans
Mexico
Migrant workers
Migrants
Migration
Migration patterns
Morocco
North and South
Payments
Policy
Political change
Recruitment
Remittances
Service industries
Standard of living
Supply & demand
Transformation
Transnationalism
U.S.A
United States of America
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Summary:This paper aims to improve our understanding of migration-development links by comparing the Mexico-US and Morocco-EU cases. Despite significant differences, Mexico and Morocco share a common geopolitical location on the global South-North migration frontier and a common position as prime reserves of low-cost, low-skilled migrant labour for the US and the EU. The analysis highlights the large extent to which Mexican and Moroccan migration is determined by business cycles and political-economic and labour-market transformations in the US and the EU. Mexican and Moroccan migration patterns and trends show striking similarities. Persistent economic gaps and migrant networks partly explain why, despite recruitment freezes in Mexico (1964) and Morocco (1973) and increasing border controls, migration has endured through family and irregular migration and a diversification of migration origins and destinations. Simultaneously, economic liberalisation and labour-market transformations in origin and destination countries have increased supply and demand for casual and informal labour in the service sector, agriculture and construction. In spite of surging remittances and the considerable contributions of Mexican and Moroccan migrants to improved living standards in origin areas, migration cannot overcome structural development obstacles and deeply ingrained political and economic inequalities in Morocco and Mexico. In fact, migration may deepen such inequalities and deflect the attention away from states' failure to create favourable conditions for equitable development.
ISSN:1369-183X
1469-9451
DOI:10.1080/1369183X.2013.778019