INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REGIMES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT *

International migration is attracting increasing attention, both among governments in the industrialized countries and within various international agencies. Trade continues to dominate the international agenda, though migration is also becoming a focus of interest for good reason. Recent simulations indicate that small increments to global migration could have far more profound effects in enhancing world production than would complete removal of all policy barriers to trade. Moreover, for many developing countries, remittances have become a critical form of financing their balance of payments, with reported remittances to the developing regions now exceeding Official Development Assistance and total remittances perhaps capping direct foreign investment flows.