A new GLO Discussion Paper studying the experiences from the last European Union enlargement rounds suggests that immigration restrictions just lead to the use of alternative channels of entry.
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GLO Discussion Paper No. 379, 2019
The effectiveness of restrictive immigration policies: the case of transitional arrangements – Download PDF
by Ulceluse, Magdalena & Kahanec, Martin
GLO Fellows Magdalena Ulceluse and Martin Kahanec
Author Abstract: The paper contributes to the on-going debates concerning the effectiveness of immigration policies, by investigating the case of the transitional arrangements implemented during the European Union enlargement rounds of 2004 and 2007. It has been argued that instead of deterring immigration, the arrangements rather altered the channels of entry. The hypothesis is that, as self-employed workers were not subjected to the transitional arrangements, these migrants used self-employment as a strategy to circumvent restrictions. Our results suggest that this might indeed have been the case post-2007, but not post-2004. We argue that in the latter case, migrants did not need to use self-employment as a strategy, because of alternative, restrictions-free destinations like Ireland and the UK. Our results point to the importance of immigration policies in shaping destination choices and have implications for future EU enlargement rounds.
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