Globalization: More or less than a blessing?
Shaping globalization: migration in times of globalization
Developed countries use migration to gain advantage in the globalized economy. But the developing countries can also benefit from the migration. In the history people always been made their way to live in another place as where they are born and this not required globalization. The fact that they do it in such large numbers as in the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of this century, may simply be related to the number of people on this planet has grown so rapidly. The percentage of migrants in the world's population increased only slightly from 2.1% (1975) to 2.9% (2000). Philip L. Martin: Migration and development: Towards sustainable solutions, International Institute for Labour Studies DP/153/2004.
Earlier dungeons many people need to escape from their homeland because of war and famine to create a new livelihood. Today the developed countries use the migration more than one way to take an competitive advantage in the globalized economy. It is more and more important for developing countries to win over selectively immigrants who can make an important contribution to the development of its own economy.
The battle for the best brains
A study from 2004 drawn up by the OECD, which summarizes the results of the census of 2000, for the first time supplies comprehensive statistics on the number of migrants, including those whose level of training. Following table shows the percentage of inhabitants of the degree of the home australian and the immigrants. OECD, Counting Immigrants and Expatriates in OECD Countries: A new Perspective, 2004, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/5/33868740.pdf.
| country | percentage of degrees of the inhabitants | percentage of degrees of the immigrants |
| Australia | 42,9% | 38,6% |
| Kanada | 38 % | 31,5% |
| USA | 25,9% | 26,9% |
The figures show that the typical immigration countries promoting a selective immigration. They derive a significant economic gain. Germany for example have a hard time to participate in this competition. To find qualified employees abroad and lead them to germany. The half-hearted attempt at recruiting IT professionals, the so-called green card, came at a time when the IT boom was almost over. The terms of this program were hardly compare with those of the American green card. The duration of work permit restrictions on work permits for family members reflected that it was not for such a program comes to proving a boon to immigrants how can this possibly be seen with civil war refugees or asylum seekers, but to participate in a contest the most attractive location will decide for themselves.
Developing and transition countries on the losing side?
If even Germany seems to stand in this fight for the best brains tend to lose out, how should then developing countries consist in this fight?
In fact, as already mentioned above, the OECD statistics show steadily increased the migration of highly educated specifically from the developing and transition countries. This emigration takes place more frequently in connection with the study. Thus, the number of students from developing countries increased dramatically in the U.S.. In the year 1999 were awarded after a study by the National Academy of Science for more than 50% of all doctoral scholarships in engineering to foreigners. Most of them had previously studied at one of the elite universities in their home country. Many of these students stay in the USA after her graduation This migration has always been viewed as a loss of the developing countries. Already in the sixties and seventies, the so-called "brain drain" was a topic of countless conferences. The call for administrative restrictions or financial compensation remained utterly inconsequential. The right of emigration is now regarded as a human right. The demographic development and the growing awareness of almost all the economic advantages of a selective immigration policy let's assume that the pull factors will be more and more important.