The new geography of labour migration: EU11 migrants in rural Norway

Abstract

Abstract Historically, immigration to Western countries has been an urban phenomenon, but in recent decades, larger immigrant populations have also arrived in rural destinations. In this paper, we address the dynamics of inbound flows and geographical distribution of labour migrants within rural regions: While some rural localities have received large numbers of migrants, others have seen just a few. Specifically, we explore the case of Eastern and Central European labour migrants (EU11 countries) travelling to Norway's rural regions following the EU enlargements in 2004, 2007 and 2013. Which factors explain the spatial distribution of EU11 labour migrants in Norway's rural regions? We evaluate three assumptions in the extant literature – that labour migrant inflows are related to labour market characteristics, demographic profiles and localities' degree of peripherality. Norwegian register data at municipality levels are employed to estimate a regression model for how these characteristics impact sizes of EU11 labour migrant populations in rural municipalities. Finding show that EU11 migrants are found where the most labour-intensive rural industries dominate; industry-particularly fish processing industry, agriculture and the hospitality sector. Further, they reside in areas with higher unemployment and few refugees. Lastly, we find that the rural municipalities that struggles the most with depopulation has not received the relatively largest number of labour migrant, as EU11 migrants are more often found in the more demographically viable rural communities.