Migration and Socio-economic Transition: Lessons from the Polish Post–EU Accession Experience

Abstract

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Politics and Current Demographic Challenges in Central and Eastern Europe,” guest-edited by Tsveta Petrova and Tomasz Inglot. Even if Poland has been commonly presented as a typical emigration country, the post–EU accession migration still presents an extremely interesting case in terms of its (very high) scale, structural characteristics, and consequences. With about 2.5 million of its citizens staying temporarily abroad, Poland belongs to the most mobile European nations, and the post-accession migration to the EU is presented as a “natural experiment.” The article aims to discuss the main economic outcomes of the post-2004 migration from Poland and to address the question to what extent the Polish experience is transferable and can be used as a policy lesson for other developing countries. Based on the Polish case, the authors argue that labor migration from a country with large workforce surpluses (as present in most of the less developed countries) can help avoid hysteresis and support the structural transformation of the economy. Fulfillment of these positive expectations is however dependent on several factors including structure of migration (and return migration), structural conditions at origin and public policies imposed. Authors argue that migration policies have only limited impact on the scale and structure of international migration but public policies are critically important in harnessing the developmental potential of migration.