Institutional Determinants of International Migration from Central-Eastern Europe

• Main Author: Agnieszka FIHEL
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Oradea, Research Centre on Identity and Migration Studies-RCIMI 2007-04-01
• Series: Journal of Identity and Migration Studies
• Subjects: International migration; labor markets; institutional determinants
• Online Access: http://www.e-migration.ro/jims/Vol1_no1/Agnieszka_Fihel.pdf

The aim of this paper is to present the role of institutional determinants for international migration from Central and Eastern Europe. In the whole post-war period international mobility has been stimulated by economic incentives, such as income disparities and unemployment, and also by particular solutions in migration policies in the receiving countries. Ethnic and asylum procedures, selective labor recruitments, visas barriers, regularization programs have mostly directed and intensified labor migration from CEE countries.Recently the EU enlargement (and, consequently, opening of member states’ labor markets) became another institutional enhancement for migrating. The 2004 accession of eight CEE countries has been followed by a massive flow from CEE to the UK and Ireland that, together with Sweden, opened their labor markets for migrant workers. In 2007 Bulgaria and Romania will gain the access into EU, but the directions of mobility has been already established for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens: the main destination countries are Italy and Spain. The dynamics of migration from Romania and Bulgaria to South Europe has been extraordinary high since around 2000, mainly due to low legislative barriers and high demand for low-paid work. Again, the institutional determinant, such as overall acceptance towards illegal, foreign workers and regularization programs, turned out to be decisive.