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11REFLECTIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION OF THE POPULATION FROM THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA Быркэ Алик Петрович
доктор экономических наук, доцент Молдавская Экономическая Академия Электронная почта: alicbir@yahoo.com
Birca Alic
Associate prof., PhD Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova e-mail: alicbir@yahoo.com
Introduction
International migration is a phenomenon that involves demographic, social, economic and political consequences for any country. Interest in the analysis of this process has grown and has comprised most countries in the world. Debates on the aging of the population, unemployment, brain drain, human rights, social integration, human trafficking and personal security force international bodies to reconsider their policies on international migration, as well as the potential benefits or disadvantages which involve the transit, sending and destination countries of migrants.
The problem of international migration of the population from the Republic of Moldova has become quite serious, as the citizens' emigration has reached its peak in the last 15 years. Mass emigration of the Moldovan citizens began in 1998 and is increasingly growing today. Initially, the emigration of the population from the Republic of Moldovan was determined by a combination of several economic factors, as well as a variety of internal and external shocks. As in the case of other states from the former USSR and Eastern Europe, the transition which was aimed at macroeconomic stabilization, liberalization, privatization and restructuring of the economy, has turned into a severe and long-lasting economic crisis, causing dramatic falls in the GDP, high unemployment, inflation and deindustrialization. If the case of the Republic of Moldova, emigration was triggered by economic factors and appeared as a mechanism for reducing poverty. In the last years, the emigration of the population from the Republic of Moldova has taken another form. There has emerged a trend in the emigration of citizens, who receive rather high salaries, but are dissatisfied with the economic and social instability in the Republic of Moldova.
The theoretical approach to international migration
Due to the relevance of the research domain and also the economic and social effects on society, international migration has always drawn the researchers' attention. A famous researcher on migration in general, including international migration, is considered Ravestein. He claims that migration is governed by a "push-pull process ": "the unfavourable conditions in one place "push " people
to migrate, "cast them out" but the favourable conditions outside the country "pull" them [5].
The "push-pull" model, developed by Ravestein is most often cited to explain international migration: According to this theory, migration is triggered under the influence of two types of factors which are in opposition and complementarity, and are placed in differently: one of origin and another of destination. The economic situation, demographic pressure, underutilization, etc. regarded as "push factors" in the countries of origin (sending countries), go along with another set of factors - higher wages, labour demand, greater job safety, increased social security, reunification of families, etc., also called "pull factors", situated in an area or country of destination (receiving country) [5].
There are scholars who claim that the 70s of the 20th century were a turning point in terms of the international migration model. Until the 70s of the 20th century, "the structure/content of international migration was based on Rav-estein's assumptions that the main motivation for migration was of economic nature, and that young men prevailed in long distance journeys. After the 70s of the 20th century, the content of migration changed together with the global economic changes. In addition, the content of migration trends changed as the early waves of migration created support networks that helped the more recent migrants to overcome the created obstacles and the difficulties associated with adjusting to a new environment. As people were settling in new places, they were becoming valuable sources of information and economic assistance for potential migrants to benefit from. All these statements are found in the theory of global economy and support networks.
Another theory that describes international migration is The theory of the dual market or segmented market of the labour force, developed by Piore in 1979. The author of this theory "argues that the First World economies are structured to require a certain level of immigration. This theory suggests that developed economies are dualistic: they have a highly-ensured and well-paid primary labour market, and a low-paid secondary market. The theory of the segmented market of labour argues that immigrants are recruited to fill the jobs that are still necessary for the overall functioning of the economy, but are avoided by the natives because of the poor working conditions characteristic of the secondary labour market" [13]. Although, the dual market theory ranks migrants mostly in the secondary labour market, where the wages are lower, they are still high compared to wages in their home country. As the neoclassical economic theory of migration claims that families emigrate when the real net income gained from migration is higher than zero, which is calculated by subtracting the family migration costs from the benefits received from migration.
Families do this calculation for every possible country of destination and then migrate to the country with the highest earnings. The Cost-Advantage models, another component of the neoclassical economic theory of migration, argue that a potential migrant "is about to migrate if the present value of all future benefits from migration is higher than the financial costs of migration." [11].
Generalizing on international migration theories, it can be noted that it is linked to two processes: immigration and emigration. Immigration is receiving the moving population, temporarily or permanently, in the country of destination (receiving country). The receiving country,_in economic terms, is characterized by: a relatively higher economic development; higher demand for labour force in comparison with the national available jobs; low share of young people and working population in the total population etc.
Emigration represents a balanced movement of the population between the sending country and the working place (destination country). In this case, the home country is characterized by: a lower level of economic development; a high share of young people and working population from the total population; the lack of possibilities to use the available work force at national level; the lack of investment in some economic sectors.
International migration trends in the Republic of Moldova The long-lasting period of economic and social instability in the Republic of Moldova, along with the uncertain future, has forced many citizens to emigrate forever, to ensure a better living. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of Moldovan citizens who officially emigrated from the Republic of Moldova has been decreasing in the last five years. Most of the Moldovan emigrants have chosen the Russian Federation as the destination country - (Figure 1).
10000
6446
-.659? 7376 7166 6828 6685 7172 6988 6663
5000 2575 2913 3316
4714 3920
3252 |3310 2890 3110 2663 1866 3920 3062 2585 2374 2236
772 624 788 961
2575 2913 3316 3252 3310 2890 3110 2663 1866 3062
film n It frfi-lir 12 858 l
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total Russian Federation -----Линейная (Total) -----Линейная (Russian Federation)
Figure 1. Evolution of the number of Moldovan citizens who emigrated from the
Republic of Moldova, number of persons Source: Developed by the author based on the data from the National Bureau of
Statistics.
From the information presented in Figure 1, we can see that the largest number of migrants was recorded in the 2001-2009 period, varying from 6446 to 7376 people. Since 2010, there has been a steady decrease in the number of Moldovan migrants from 4714 people in 2010 - up to 2236 people in 2015. From the total number of Moldovan migrants most chose the Russian Federation, as the destination country. They were mostly Russian speakers or had origins in the Russian Federation. Over the analysed period, the highest number of emigrants leaving for the Russian Federation was recorded in 2003, amounting
to 3316 people. At the same time, in 2013, they recorded the lowest number of Moldovan citizens who chose to emigrate to the Russian Federation.
However, the Republic of Moldova cannot be regarded just as an exporter of citizens, but also as a destination country for citizens from other countries. Although, the number of immigrants is lower than that of emigrants, in recent years, there has been an increasing tendency in their number, including people from the Russian Federation (Figure 2).
6000 -
4187 4209
4000 -2749 2512 2704 3093 3349
i620 1706 2056 1968 2070 2010 2512
2000 1293 1297 1620 1706
Figure 1. Evolution of the number of immigrants in the Republic of Moldova,
number of persons
Source: Developed by the author based on the data from the National Bureau of
Statistics.
Analysing the information in Figure 2, we can state that in the period of 20012009 registered a slow growth in the number of immigrants to the Republic of Moldova, except for 2008. In the last six years their number has practically doubled, from 2010 people registered in 2009, it grew to 4209 people in 2015. The Increasing attractiveness of the Republic of Moldova as a country of destination, especially in the last two years, may be caused by the liberalization of the visa regime for Moldovan citizens. This determines the citizens from Asian countries to choose the Republic of Moldova as destination country, considering it an easier way to reach EU countries.
To work ■ To study ■ Family immigration ■ Other causes
400 300 200 100 0
336
373
228
241
173
¿1 (л Л Z 54
46 12 9 17 15 12
H
118
53 9 55 5
28 ■
134
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Figure 3. The number and causes of emigration of Russian citizens to the Republic of Moldova, number of persons Source: Developed by the author based on the data from the National Bureau of
Statistics.
The number of immigrants from the Russian Federation registered a steady growth over the analysed period. Their number grew from 52 people in 2001, up
to 567 people in 2015, showing a noticeable increase of over 10 times. The vast majority of immigrants originating from the Russian Federation have chosen the Republic of Moldova as a country of destination with the purpose of family reunification (Figure 3).
Figure 3 shows that most people from the Russian Federation, emigrated to the Republic of Moldova with the aim of family reunification. In the period of 2011-2015, their number increased more than twice, from 173 people to 373 people.
Conclusions
International migration is a problem that must concern both the migrants' home and destination countries. The international migration of population has existed in all times, under the influence of a set of objective and subjective factors that are currently directly interfering with the components of globalization and internationalization. Each country must develop their own policies related to international migration, based on demographic, economic and social objectives. A careless policy to health problems or minimal welfare of migrants, regardless of their segment, does not contribute to the securitization of the bilateral relationships between the states migration takes place.
Bibliography
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www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-829391-7.pdf
9. Taylor, J. E. (1999). "The New Economics of Labour Migration an d the Role of Remittances in the Migration Process." International Migration 37:63-88.
10. http://www.globalization101.org/uploads/File/Migration/migrall.pdf.
11. www.econ.jhu.edu/courses/280/Migration%20Theory_f06.ppt.
12. http://family.jrank.org/pages/1170/Migration-Theories-Migration
