Gabor LADOS, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary
Zoltan GAL, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary
Enlargements of the EU intensified the migration of labour force in Europe, which has controversial effects. On the one hand the home country may face with economic problems due to the lack of skilled workers, however, on the other hand migration is not a one-way process and out-migrants could return with competitive (e.g., language, technical, management) skills which has positive influence on the productivity. Economic centres of the home country could be not just the target areas of return migrants, but foreign direct investment (FDI) as the presumed drivers of economic growth in the V4 may also favor these regions. In the mainstream literature it is widely accepted that the migration decision making process is very complex, including for example both financial and personal reasons to leave the home country or to move back from abroad, but the wage level of the home country plays a significant role. The aim of this presentation is to investigate the linkage between FDI and migration, and explore the spatial characteristics of these phenomena. In our case study, we try to reflect how migration and FDI could reshape space and place in the Visegrad countries, which lost 10 million people since 2004 and suffering from labour shortage due to international migration. Preliminary hypotheses have been formulated, as follows: H1) FDI and its economic potential could retain potential migrants; H2) Regions with no or relatively low level of FDI could significantly lose labour force; H3) Regions with relatively high level of FDI could attract more returning (international) migrants.
Mots clés : FDI|international migration|labour market|productivity
A105188GL