7013iba Essay Enyang Zheng S5034521

Student’s name: Enyang Zheng

Student number: s5034521

The unit code & name: 7013IBA Politics of the Global Economy

Assessment Item: Individual Written Assignment

Due date: 18 Apr 16 - 23 May 16

Lecturer’s name: Tapan Sarker

Word count: 1,452

Topic: Can Migration Bring Economic Gains? Or it Reduces Cultural

Cohesion?

Can Migration Bring Economic Gains?

Or it Reduces Cultural Cohesion?

Introduction

The world has been experiencing increased globalization and interconnection in the past decade. The approximate number of people across the world who are residing overseas nowadays has exceeded 200 million. This number has risen remarkably by more than 40% since the beginning of the new millennium (UN, 2013).

Nevertheless, in spite of what seems to be huge population movements, it is noted that labour still is not as free to move as goods, services, or capital. Although various countries have made efforts to encourage integrated markets, most of them have not liberalized immigration regulations. A wide range of nations creates substantial and comprehensive legal barriers to keep foreigners away from their territory. Particularly, governments in developed nations are encountering massive domestic pressure to strengthen border and safety.

Immigration is undoubtedly a controversial issue that has given rise to ongoing debates. While some people put an emphasis on the negative impact of immigration, others argue that immigration benefit both the host country and the home country. This essay will first discuss both sides and then give the author’s point of view.

Immigration harms the host country. A large number of people are opposed to a substantial scale of immigration in the future. One of their major arguments is that immigration reduces social cohesion. Social cohesion studies often concentrate their research interest and activity on trust (trust in general and interpersonal trust). Most of the empirical research findings indicate a...