Why Do We Need a General Agreement on Movements of People (GAMP)?
Thomas Straubhaar
No 26332, Discussion Paper Series from Hamburg Institute of International Economics
Abstract:
This paper argues that global games need global rules. Times of globalisation call for an international framework to regulate efficiently international movements of people. More than ever before, migration is a global phenomenon. This paper discusses the economic necessity of a shift from national migration policies to an international regime. My suggestions go into the direction of a GAMP - a General Agreement on Movements of People. This labour market analogy to the GATT (WTO) and GATS is intended to provide an international regime for the movement of people across national borders. It proceeds from the conviction that in general the free international movement of people - like the free movement of goods and capital - is beneficial to all parties involved (i.e. the migrants, the country of origin and the country of destination). Consequently, it aims first and foremost at a liberalisation of the movement of people and for general acceptance of the free entry and exit of migrants. However, it should also provide an instrument for internalising externalities provoked by international migration. To avoid brain drain effects in the sending areas and congestion effects in the receiving areas it might be wise to impose a migration fee that makes exit and entry more expensive. Während GATT und GATS und damit die WTO den Welthandel regulieren, und es für den internationalen Geld- und Kapitalverkehr Institutionen wie die BIZ, den IMF oder die Weltbank gibt, fehlt für den Bereich der internationalen Migration eine analoge internationale Behörde (diese Lücke vermögen auch die ILO und die IOM nicht zu füllen). Dieses Diskussionspapier deckt die ökonomische Notwendigkeit für ein GAMP (General Agreement on Movements of People) auf und skizziert dessen Inhalte. GAMP wird von der Überzeugung geleitet, dass die internationale Freizügigkeit für Arbeitskräfte genauso vorteilhaft ist wie der internationale Freihandel für Güter. Andererseits entstehen mit der internationalen Migration externe Effekte in Form eines Brain Drains im Herkunftsland und in Form von Ballungs- und Verdrängungseffekten im Aufnahmeland. Um diese negativen Auswirkungen zu internalisieren, wird vorgeschlagen, eine zweckgebundene Migrationsabgabe zu erheben.
Keywords: International Relations/Trade; Labor and Human Capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38
Date: 2000
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)
Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/26332/files/dp000094.pdf (application/pdf)
Related works:
Working Paper: Why do we need a general agreement on movements of people (GAMP)? (2000) 
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:hwwadp:26332
DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.26332
Access Statistics for this paper
More papers in Discussion Paper Series from Hamburg Institute of International Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().