11 / 16
11
Panel Discussion: Understanding Migration
and Steering it Rationally
Following Collier’s presentation, Rolf Dörig, Peter
Grünenfelder, and George Sheldon discussed migra-
tion as a global phenomenon and the difficulties with
regulating immigration at national and international
levels.
Peter Grünenfelder, director of Avenir Suisse, com-
mented on Collier’s statement about reestablishing
normality. He mused that there are currently approxi-
mately 215 million people who are moving back and
forth.
Furthermore, prosperity is approximately 50 times
higher here than in Africa. These are economic pull
factors that can hardly be avoided. How, asked
Grünenfelder, could anyone establish normality?
The factor of return migration is ignored
All panel participants agreed that migration is a com-
plex, global phenomenon. There were different opin-
ions, however, with respect to steering mechanisms.
Grünenfelder rated Switzerland’s migration policies as
largely successful and pointed out that the best steering
of migration happens with economic development.
George Sheldon, professor of labor market and indus-
trial economics at the University of Basel, countered
that a migration policy that only focuses on the de-
“Approximately 700 million
persons would like to emi-
grate, primarily to Europe
and America.”
“The final amount is quite
different, however, since not
all people remain here,”
mand of the economy can be problematic. Individual
firms do not consider important external factors when
recruiting new labor, which leads to a large labor
migration. Sheldon pointed to a general problem in
steering migration. Steering usually is based on a fixed
migration amount. This depends on two flow factors:
immigration and return migration. Sheldon criticized
that the migration amount is presently only calculated
based on one factor, and that the return migration as
an important flow factor is largely ignored.
says Sheldon. The lower the economic qualifications of
the immigrants, the greater is the probability that they
will remain, which is due to the earnings differential
between the land of immigration and the country of
origin.
Integration through work
The speakers shared the opinion, however, that the
integration and socialization of the migrants is best
accomplished on the labor market. One of the most
important measures for preventing social conflict is the
avoidance of ghettoization. Switzerland is considered a
model country in this respect. Immigration policies
limit the isolation of individual ethnic groups and thus
support cultural blending. This is of central impor-
tance with respect to the current refugee crisis, empha-
sized Rolf Dörig, president of the board of directors of
Swiss Life Holding and Adecco Group. He advocated
more intensive humanitarian aid for refugees. Europe
must come together on this issue and consider what we
can do to attain a normal situation.
Rolf Dörig and Peter Grünenfelder agreed that the labor
market is crucial for integration and socialization of migrants.
Sheldon criticized that return migration is largely ignored in
the discussion about steering mechanisms.
Dialogue and Events
Podium