Worlds in Motion. Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium

Abstract

Worlds in Motion seeks to create a comprehensive theory of international migration for the next century. After explicating the various propositions and hypotheses of current theories, and identifying areas of complementarity and conflict, the authors review empirical research emanating from each of the world's principal international migration systems: North America, Western Europe, the Gulf, Asia and the Pacific, and the Southern Cone of South America. Using data from the 1980s, levels and patterns of migration within each system are described to define their structure and organization. Specific studies are then comprehensively surveyed to evaluate the fundamental propositions of neoclassical economics, the new economics of labour migration, segmented labour market theory, world systems theory, social capital theory, and the theory of cumulative causation.