ABSTRACT
The economic impact of labor export and its potential for stimulating long-term economic development in poorer nations have been examined both theoretically and empirically. Theoretical and general reviews of the economic consequences of emigration for the sending society usually recognize one or more of the following as key variables: manpower loss, repatriated earnings, repatriated skills, and repatriated ideas. The export of labor on a large scale may have important effects on unemployment and productivity in the sending society. The fact that emigration often saps the sending society of a substantial segment of its skilled labor supply has already been touched upon. M. Trebous refers to projections indicating that the Algerian economy will be unable to absorb workers from France in trades in which they are skilled. Emigration may well permit political and economic systems to avoid coming to grips with basic inefficiencies and inequities in their organization.
