Assessing the economic contribution of labour migration in developing countries as countries of destination (ECLM)

The project, initiated by the OECD Development Centre and the ILO and co-funded by the EU Thematic Programme on Migration and Asylum, sought to arrive at a reliable and evidence-based understanding of how immigration affects the economies of a number of low-income and middle-income countries, considering in particular:

• contribution to GDP and growth,
• impact on the labour market,
• impact on public finances and social services.

The project concentrated on low and middle-income countries where labour immigrants represent a substantial share of the population and where the annual number of immigrant inflows exceeded the number of emigrant outflows. To allow a focused analysis, countries in which refugees represent a large share of the immigrant population were not considered. Furthermore, the participation of countries in the project was conditional on an expressed interest of national authorities and the availability of data relevant for the proposed analysis.

Rationale

The debate over the migration and development nexus gained momentum at global level since the UN High level dialogue on migration and development in 2006.
While producing valuable knowledge on the impact of emigration in origin countries, the debate tended to overlook the effects of immigration in developing countries as destination countries. Despite its importance for economies and a significant number of low and middle-income countries where labour immigrants represent a large share of the workforce, the contribution of labour immigration in developing countries has rarely been studied or taken into account in economic and employment policy-making.
There was therefore a need to better understand immigration’s contribution to support the design of evidencebased labour and migration policies, improve labour management to make it work for growth and development, and secure migrants’ equal treatment and the protection of their human and labour rights.

Project phases

In the project’s inception phase, consultations with local authorities and with workers and employers’ organizations as well as national statistical offices took place.

The conceptual and methodological framework was developed in organizing an international expert workshop and national consultation meetings. Local research partners were chosen in each country based on demonstrated experience in the field of migration.

The methodology was applied in co-operation with local partners, taking national specificities into account. Training workshops in preparation for sector studies were organized as specific analysis was carried out in sectors relying most heavily on migrant workers. Primary data was collected through field work and surveys.

In a next phase, the project experts centralized and analysed the country data, both quantitatively and qualitatively, using a comparative perspective in order to draw general conclusions on the economic contribution of labour immigration in developing countries.

Finally, the main findings and the policy implications were submitted at the country level and discussed with countries’ representatives and relevant authorities in launch and validation events. The final report was presented during a conference in Paris in January 2018 that gathered representatives from each partner country, as well as experts and policy makers from other countries.

Outputs

The project:

• Developed a methodology for assessing the economic impact of immigration in developing countries as countries of destination, in close co-operation with national authorities and social partners;
• Applied the methodology in co-operation with ten partner countries to measure the contribution of labour migration to their economies;
• Gathered primary and secondary data obtained in all partner countries and draw conclusions about the economic contribution of labour immigration in developing countries as countries of destination;
• Provided recommendations for policy development and disseminate the results.

Reports

• How Immigrants Contribute to Developing Countries’ Economies
• How Immigrants Contribute to Rwanda's Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to Costa Rica's Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to South Africa's Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to Argentina's Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to Ghana's Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to the Dominican Republic's Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to Côte d'Ivoire's Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to Kyrgyzstan’s Economy
• How Immigrants Contribute to Thailand’s Economy