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Should we have a WTO for international migration?
[‘The growth of world trade: Tariffs, transport costs and income similarity’]

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  • Timothy J. Hatton

Abstract

The international movement of labour remains much more restricted than movement of goods or capital, and the worldwide economic gains to liberalizing migration are large. This paper asks whether those gains could be realized through better international cooperation on migration along the lines of the WTO for trade. Although public opinion is marginally more negative towards the liberalization of migration than of trade, the key impediment is the lack of a basis for reciprocity in negotiations over migration. And this is because migration is largely driven by absolute advantage rather than by comparative advantage as in the case of trade. Consequently there is no basis for WTO-style negotiations over migration and therefore no grounds for reforming the international architecture in the hope of fostering liberalization.— Timothy J. Hatton

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy J. Hatton, 2007. "Should we have a WTO for international migration? [‘The growth of world trade: Tariffs, transport costs and income similarity’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(50), pages 340-383.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ecpoli:v:22:y:2007:i:50:p:340-383.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1468-0327.2007.00178.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Gabriel Felbermayr & Wilhelm Kohler, 2014. "Can International Migration Ever Be Made a Pareto Improvement?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: European Economic Integration, WTO Membership, Immigration and Offshoring, chapter 11, pages 373-393, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. David R. Collie, 2009. "Auctioning Immigration Visas," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 687-694, November.
    3. Giuseppe Bertola & Lorenza Mola, 2010. "Services Provision and Temporary Mobility: Freedoms and Regulation in the EU," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 633-653, April.
    4. Flavia Jurje & Sandra Lavenex, 2014. "Trade Agreements as Venues for ´Market Power Europe´? The Case of Immigration Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 320-336, March.
    5. Mayda, Anna Maria, 2008. "Why are people more pro-trade than pro-migration?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 160-163, December.
    6. Sun Young Jung & Eunyi Kim & Seong-Gin Moon, 2017. "The influence of personal values, social trust, and political trust on multicultural acceptance," International Review of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 138-152, April.
    7. repec:pra:mprapa:47899 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Marfouk, Abdeslam, 2013. "Préjugés et fausses idées sur l’immigration et les immigrés, vecteurs de discrimination en matière d’accès à l’emploi [false ideas about immigrants and immigration and discrimination in labor marke," MPRA Paper 47989, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Jesus Fernandez-Huertas Moraga, 2008. "A General Model of Bilateral Migration Agreements," Working Papers 360, Barcelona School of Economics.
    10. Sebastian Galiani & Gustavo Torrens, 2021. "The political economy of trade and international labour mobility," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(4), pages 1737-1781, November.
    11. Collie, David R., 2007. "Migration and trade with external economies of scale," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2007/23, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    12. Nikolaj Malchow-møller & Jan Rose Skaksen, 2014. "The welfare effects of business-cycle-induced immigration," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 682-709, August.
    13. Witada Anukoonwattaka & Adam Heal, 2013. "Regional Integration and Labour Mobility," Studies in Trade and Investment 81, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    14. Jacques Poot & Anna Strutt, 2010. "International Trade Agreements and International Migration," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(12), pages 1923-1954, December.
    15. Giordani, Paolo E. & Ruta, Michele, 2013. "Coordination failures in immigration policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 55-67.
    16. Makovec, Mattia & Purnamasari, Ririn & Sandi, Matteo & Savitri, Astrid, 2016. "Intended vs. unintended consequences of migration restriction policies: evidence from a natural experiment in Indonesia," ISER Working Paper Series 2016-13, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    17. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Grossmann, Volker & Kohler, Wilhelm, 2012. "Migration, International Trade and Capital Formation: Cause or Effect ?," FSES Working Papers 436, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    18. Mattia Makovec & Ririn S Purnamasari & Matteo Sandi & Astrid R Savitri, 2018. "Intended versus unintended consequences of migration restriction policies: evidence from a natural experiment in Indonesia," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 915-950.
    19. Sam Scott, 2017. "Venues and Filters in Managed Migration Policy: The Case of the United Kingdom," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 375-415, June.
    20. Panizzon, Marion, 2010. "Standing Together Apart: Bilateral Migration Agreements and the Temporary Movement of Persons under “Mode 4” of GATS," Papers 34, World Trade Institute.
    21. Dowlah Caf, 2012. "Mode 4 of WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services: Can it spur Cross-Border Labor Mobility from Developing Countries?," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 56-82, December.
    22. Jurje, Flavia & Lavenex, Sandra, 2013. "Issue-Linkage in International Migration Governance: Trade Agreements as Venues for “Market Power Europe”?," Papers 492, World Trade Institute.
    23. Ferrie, Joseph & Hatton, Timothy J., 2013. "Two Centuries of International Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 7866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    24. Hatton, Timothy J., 2014. "The economics of international migration: A short history of the debate," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 43-50.
    25. Slobodan Djajic & Michael S. Michael, 2009. "Temporary Migration Policies and Welfare of the Host and Source Countries: A Game-Theoretic Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 2811, CESifo.

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