8.2B Economic Theory & Migration

• Neoclassical economic theory = Wage differences pull or push people from low-wage regions to higher-wage regions.

  -> Internal migration in developing regions such as rural India to cities such as Mumbai
• Dual labour market theory = Developed countries 'pull' migrant workers to fill low-skilled jobs, as local population unwilling to do this work.

  -> Fruit and vegetable harvesting in the UK, attracts EU workers 
• World systems theory = Trade between countries is favourable to one above the other, encouraging migration along these trade routes

  -> Former colonies remain dependent on colonial superpower - UK and India
• Relative deprivation theory = People feel they have less in comparison to someone else (usually wealth), and therefore, feel deprived. Successful migrants act as examples to the source community encouraging migration

  -> North/South migration in the UK, where people in the north of England feel deprived in relation to the south and migrate southwards.
• New economics of labour migration (NELM) = The theory views migration as an economic strategy of a household and suggests that the family's economic situation would change as the family member sends remittances back. The family's act together to spread the cost and all benefits eventually

  -> Male construction workers from Poland migrating to the UK and sending remittances home to families