Political Effects of International Migration

Posted: 21 May 2014

See all articles by Devesh Kapur

Devesh Kapur

University of Pennsylvania - Center for the Advanced Study of India; Center for Global Development

Date Written: May 2014

Abstract

What are the political consequences of international migration on the migrant's country of origin? To help understand this question, this review article first examines data and measurement issues that have hampered empirical analysis. It then lays out an analytical framework outlining four channels through which migration's political consequences play out: the prospective, absence, diaspora, and return channels. The article next delineates the variables that attenuate or amplify these effects and argues that unobservable characteristics, in particular who leaves and why, have an important influence on the type and intensity of political effects. Subsequently, the article examines some key political consequences of international migration: its political economy consequences; its impact on conflict; and its institutional effects, focusing on political institutions as well as nationalism and citizenship. The penultimate section points out the importance of temporality in understanding the political effects of international migration. The article concludes with some questions for future research.

Suggested Citation

Kapur, Devesh, Political Effects of International Migration (May 2014). Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 17, pp. 479-502, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2439635 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-043010-095807

Devesh Kapur (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - Center for the Advanced Study of India ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/casi/about/devesh.html

Center for Global Development

2055 L St. NW
5th floor
Washington, DC 20036
United States

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