ABSTRACT
Although economics has not been among the core disciplines in migration research for quite some time, 2 recently liberal economists have become increasingly active in the discussion about a sustainable and efficient migration policy. The utilisation of the market mechanism for migration policy provides the core of their conceptualisation. This means, in a nutshell, that – departing from the assumption of an existing immigration market – immigration rights should be made tradable and that a price should be charged for the scarcely issued immigration and residence permits. Proponents of such a liberal approach are Becker (1992, 1996) and Straubhaar (2000). All free traders in the first instance would suggest that any immigration restriction 3 causes market distortions and thus should be avoided (Freeman 1995; Hillman 1994). This, however, does not seem to be sensible even for liberals. The reason for the impracticality of the free international movement of people is the fact that most nation-states are welfare states that may function as magnets for immigrants. Unregulated immigration may undermine the welfare state's capability of service. In particular, tax-financed social aid and other benefits, which constitute the margin of subsistence and which are paid independently from previous payments, may operate as a magnet for certain groups of immigrants (Borjas 1999). It is therefore in the self-interest of a state to restrict immigration for those groups (Straubhaar 2002: 84). In other words, welfare states, which aim at providing internal equality, must maintain an external ‘threshold of inequality’ (Stichweh 1998: 49-61). Realistic market-economy approaches take this structural necessity into account and take leave from advocating generally open borders.
