Country Of Emigration Research Articles

Polish Migration after the Fall of the Iron Curtain

Poland has been an emigration country for more than a century. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the enlargement of the European Union in 2004, coupled with unrestricted entry to the United Kingdom, Sweden and Ireland, caused one of the biggest emigration flows in Poland’s postwar history. On November 19, 2006, the New York Times reported that 800,000 Poles left the country since Poland joined the EU. The number of Polish residents who stayed abroad for at least two months tripled between early 2004 and early 2007 from approximately 180,000 to 540,000 (Kaczmarczyk and Ok olski, 2008). In May 2011, Germany opened its doors fully to jobseekers from Poland paving the way for a flood of cut-price carpenters, plumbers and other budget labour of the kind that swept Britain in 2004 (Hall et al., 2011). Norway and Belgium have also become destinations for post-accession Polish migrants (Mostowska, 2012, 2013). With this exodus Poland became one of the largest exporters of labour within the enlarged European Union. According to the 2011 Polish Census, 2,06 million Poles have resided abroad for at least three months, including 1,6 million who lived outside Poland for longer than 12 months (GUS, 2012). While the scale of Polish migration has remained on the rise, Polish permanent emigration has been steadily decreasing, giving ways to new migration patterns. The fairly stable migration flows that marked the post-WWII period have dissolved into more complex, transitory patterns in terms of temporary settlement and shifting migration status (Engbersen, Van der Leun and de Boom, 2007). Polish migration no longer takes the form of unidirectional movement from country of origin to destination country that ends with permanent settlement. Post-enlargement migratory movements from Poland have become much more differentiated and have led to a more diverse and floating populations (Danilewicz, 2010; Urba nska 2009). Paraphrasing Bauman’s (2000, 2005) work on “liquid modernity”, Polish international migration has become “liquid”. Polish migrants, who for decades regarded the United States as the “promised land”, shifted their focus to Western Europe, much more geographically accessible. Polish migration took a form of ‘pendulum’ or ‘circular’ migration and in some cases transnational commuting. These movements have been governed by the ebb and flow of economic demands and the state of labour markets at home and abroad (Favell, 2008; Mostowska, 2013). The current issue of International Migration presents a collection of articles, many penned by Polish migration scholars, on a wide variety of issues with important migration policy ramifications. The collection opens with an article by Isa nski et al. based on an online survey of post-accession Polish migrants who use their spatial mobility to adapt to the new context of post-communist space and EU enlargement in order to enhance their professional qualifications and pursue educational goals. Rather than relying on transnational networking for improving their condition in the country of settlement, many Poles tend to settle within mobility, staying mobile as long as they can in order to improve or maintain a particular quality of life. Their experience of migration becomes their lifestyle, their leaving home and going away, paradoxically, a strategy of staying at home, and, thus, an alternative to what international migration is usually considered to be: emigration or immigration. This does not mean that some Polish migrants do not “extend their stay abroad” and decide to settle outside Poland (McGhee, 2013; Ryan et al., 2009; Ryan and Sales, 2013).

Labour market integration, remittances and optimal tax policy

This paper, using a model comprising two labour sending countries and one labour receiving country, analyses the optimal tax/subsidy policies of countries to control international migration when labour markets are integrated. The analysis shows that the countries of emigration should tax the migrants to maximise national income. This result suggests that the developing and transitional countries need to re-evaluate their policies of supporting migration. The optimal policy of the receiving country is to use discriminatory tax rates where the sending country with higher labour endowment bears a higher tax burden.

Emigration and origin country's institutions: does the destination country matter?

This paper examines the influence of international migration on the evolution of the quality of institutions in the home country. It focuses on the potential difference in the impact depending on the status of the destination country (i.e. former colonizer, economic power and political power). It also examines whether the impact depends on the quality of institutions in the host country. The results show that the status and the quality of institutions of the country of destination matter and that while emigration to former colonizers has no effect on the quality of institutions in the origin country, emigration to economically or politically powerful countries has a positive feedback on the quality of institutions in the home country.

Remittances as an Economic Development Factor. Empirical Evidence from the CEE Countries

Empirical studies on remittances revealed their key role for the household consumption of the receiving families, as well as their investment potential with direct influence on economic development in emigrant's country of origin. This paper focuses on the second approach by treating remittances as capital flows that have macroeconomic growth potential. Aiming to test this hypothesis, we constructed a two growth models that include remittances as the variable of interest, alongside the traditional production factors. The models have been tested using aggregate data that cover ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) over 1995-2011. Panel estimation methods were employed to account for potential cross-section heterogeneity. The main result is the significant positive influence of remittances on both absolute and relative GDP growth in our panel of CEE countries.

International Migration of Skilled Workers with Endogenous Policies

We study the interaction between the optimal immigration policy of a host country and education policy of a source country in a model of international migration of skilled workers. Acquisition of human capital is driven by the academic and career opportunities at home and abroad. Greater opportunities to migrate are found to increase the source country's net stock of human capital only under very stringent conditions concerning the shape of the utility function and of the production function for human capital, the country's emigration rate, and the international wage differential. We use the model to examine the effects of technological improvements in the educational sector, changes in the academic curricula in the source country, and attitudes to immigration in the host country. Of key interest are the implications for the optimal spending on education in the source country and the optimal immigration quota of the host country.

Albanian Migration to the U.S.A. Geo-Historical Research Contributions

Typology of the reasons for migration, dominated by forced migration (mainly wars) and labor migration, intensified by the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Massive migration periods are: the Roman period (less documented), Middle Ages (XIV-XV century); period between the Albanian national revival and independence; periods during world wars and the period after the fall of Communism (1990). While migrations tipizohen today because of work and living better. Varies according to geography and world developments, especially regional developments (Balkan Mediterranean).Characteristics of today's migration are becoming almost universal. Accurate statistical estimates are difficult (from 150 thousand to 500 thousand) because of its complex integrations, sources of social organizations and illegal migration in certain periods. Selection of emigration countries related to geographical proximity (Greece, Italy); cultural and linguistic proximity; historical ties; economic developments; accessability; regulatory incentives to migration policies, making phenomenon spontaneous and problematic since to the country of origin up to the destination. Referring to official statistics 95% of immigrants are located in Europe. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n2p441

"The Remittances As A Potential Economic Growth Resource For Romania "

As an important emigration country, Romania benefits from significant remittance inflows that sustained the increased domestic consumption and may have also contributed to the strong economic growth prior to the recent economic crisis. Our empirical research aimed to investigate, by means of multi-factorial regression models, the contribution of the remittances to the long-term economic growth in Romania. The main result of our research is a significant positive impact of remittance inflows on the economic growth in Romania over 1994-2011.

Directions of foreign migration of Poles and the level of socio-economic development of the country of emigration from the European Union area in the years 2004–2011

This paper provides an introduction to the enhanced study of the relationships occurring between the choice of the country, to which Polish citizens emigrate, and the level and quality of life in the country of emigration. In the first part of the article the author focused on the major causes of departures of Poles out of the country and the effects of emigration for Poland. Next, the directions of departures of Poles to the EU countries for a temporary stay longer than three months in the period 2004–2012 have been analyzed. In the last part of the paper the author made the preliminary analysis of the relationship between the number of people emigrating to a given country and its level of the socio-economic development. In order to determine the level of the development the Human Development Index has been used.

New Immigrant Destinations in a New Country of Immigration: Settlement Patterns of Non-natives in the Czech Republic

This paper adds to the literature on new immigrant destinations and the geographies of immigrant incorporation by studying recent changes in the settlement patterns of non-natives in the Czech Republic. This country has rapidly transitioned from a country of emigration to one gaining population from elsewhere. The speed of this transition is unusual and is worthy of study in and of itself. Similar to most other countries with significant immigration, newcomers tend to settle in large urban centres, so, not surprisingly, Prague is the principal gateway city. In the Czech case, however, settlement patterns do not follow a simple hierarchy; non-natives indeed are now found increasingly not only in secondary cities but also in non-metropolitan areas, especially to the north and west of Prague. These basic geographies are shaped by the direct settlement from other countries and also result from rapidly evolving secondary migrations within the country. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Local realities and global possibilities: deconstructing the imaginations of aspiring migrants in Senegal

Recent studies show that the numbers of aspiring migrants continue to be on the increase worldwide not only in the typical emigration countries in the South but also in the usual destination countries in the North. Yet, while migration theorists have recently included the micro perspective of individual agency and sociocultural logics in their search for the engine behind the migration flows, far less research has been done on the sociocultural embeddedness of the imaginations of aspiring migrants, most of whom will never migrate. In Senegal, an increasing large number of men and women are very focused on transnational migration. This article tries to unravel the knot as to what lies at the core of this seeming national preoccupation with migration out of Senegal. Its conclusion suggests that the pervasive desire of so many is rooted in the way in which the economic claims of family members and friends are culturally informed.

Becoming a Land of Arrivall: On the Crisis of Dutch Liberalism

This paper examines the work of Dutch academic and journalist, Paul Scheffer, and its location in a broader 'crisis of Dutch liberalism' following the murder of Theo van Gogh. It discusses Scheffer's original provocative newspaper piece, 'The Multicultural Drama' and how its arguments evolved in his book, Land of Arrival (translated into English as Immigrant Nations), in the context of the overall transformation of the Netherlands from a country of emigration into a country of immigration. It concludes with some reflections on the expression of many of these concerns as a new kind of 'civilizing offensive' in the context of the effects of globalisation.

The determinants of internal mobility in Italy, 1995-2006

AbstractOBJECTIVEIn this paper, we study the determinants of internal migration in Italy from 1995 to 2006.METHODSTo conduct this investigation, we applied an augmented version of the gravity model to the migratory flows of Italians and resident foreigners. In addition to the classic determinants of migration-i.e., the sizes of populations and the distance between places-the model considered a possible autocorrelation of flows and a set of socio-economic and demographic explanatory variables that may influence migratory flows.RESULTSDifferent results were obtained for the two subpopulations. Among the Italians studied, both the economic conditions and the demographic features of regions were found to have operated as both push and pull determinants of migratory flows, although the demographic characteristics were shown to have affected migratory flows to a lesser extent. Among the resident foreigners studied, the demographic characteristics of the regions did not appear to have acted as push factors, but they were found to have had an effect as a pull determinant. While the economic conditions of the destination regions were shown to have been particularly important in attracting the resident foreigners, the economic conditions of the sending regions were not found to have had a clear-cut effect on the decision to leave.(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1. IntroductionOf the different types of mobility, international migration has most frequently been the focus of studies, mainly because of its high visibility (Bonifazi and Heins 2000). Recently, policy makers in European countries that have experienced massive migration flows, and who are worried about the risk of social destabilisation caused by the presence of an unexpectedly large number of immigrants, have given special attention to the issue.By contrast, scholars and policy makers have focused less consistently on internal mobility, looking at the issue only during periods when it became acute. In Italy, for example, the huge migration flows from the southern to the northern parts of the country following the Second World War were studied intensively while they were occurring. But after the flows started to decrease in the second half of the 1970s, internal mobility became a secondary social, political, and scientific issue.In recent years, however, scholars have again become interested in the internal movements of population, which are being recognised as una delle dimensioni costitutive della societa e del suo funzionamento (one of the basic dimensions of society and its functioning) (Arru and Ramella 2003: p. X). Moreover, they are being considered in conjunction with, rather than as separate from, international movements, as both kinds of migration flows are influenced by globalisation, which modifies socio- economic contexts and relations between different geographical areas at every territorial level (Bonifazi 1999). Thus, it is hardly surprising that internal migration is growing across the globe, including in some important emigration countries (e.g., China, India, and Pakistan), and that internal flows are higher than outflows (Deshingkar and Grimm 2005).A marked resumption of internal migration flows began in Italy in the mid-1990s (Livi Bacci 2010; Piras and Melis 2007). The number of changes of residence within Italy rose from around 1.1 million in 1995 to around 1.4 million in 2006, a level similar to that of more than 30 years previously.As internal migration flows have been recovering, Italy has been turning into a major destination country for international migration flows, first from the African continent, and more recently from Eastern Europe. By the start of 2010, the number of resident foreigners in Italy had reached 4.2 million, or 7% of the total population (ISTAT 2010). Mobility among these resident foreigners has contributed substantially to the internal mobility trend. …

A Selection of New Irish Poets

A Selection of New Irish Poets Kelly Sullivan (bio) Since Éire-Ireland last printed a selection of new Irish poets in 2005, the cultural landscape of the country has experienced dramatic change. After the boom years of the Celtic Tiger, the economic bust and bailout leave ghost estates and empty shop fronts in their wake. This staggering rise and fall forms the backdrop for the early twenty-first century, the period during which the poets here gathered published their first collections. Perhaps even more notably for literary culture, new media and digital technologies have reshaped the very way that we receive news, communicate with each other, network professionally and personally, and even read poetry. In addition to established and influential print-based journals like Poetry Ireland and The Stinging Fly, poets can now publish in Irish-based online journals like Southword and Poetry Proper, or in a variety of new print journals including Iota (Scotland), and The Moth, a magazine designed and edited by Rebecca O’Connor, whose work appears in these pages. Geographical boundaries have never much hampered the publication of poetry, but the last decade’s worldwide rise of online journals and print journals with a web presence provides Irish poets with a truly global community. A shift in economics means that in the years since the Celtic Tiger went bust, Ireland is once again a country of emigrants, even as its own population reflects new waves of diverse immigration as never before. The poets featured in these pages represent this globalized Ireland, with some of them living in Massachusetts, Indiana, New York, Scotland, and England. The work gathered here also reflects a broad stylistic range and diversity of subject matter; all of these poets display sophisticated formal and technical skill, and, perhaps in keeping with a world of geographical boundlessness and boundless digital information, all push and pull at language’s boundaries. From the rich amalgamation of images in Ciaran Berry’s long poems, through [End Page 303] the slangy conversation of David McLoghlin’s “Dublin, 1989,” to the playful verbal acrobatics of Miriam Gamble’s “The Mare Spikes a Glassy Loch,” these are poets who adeptly use the logic of sound in order to create sense. Formal and stylistic range here also translates into a dynamic variety of subject matter, with these voices taking us through the classical Greek world, nineteenth-century Ulster, the dark landscape of the Irish Civil War, and into the little rooms and interior spaces of personal revelation. Nor does this group shy from the clamor and modernity of our times; Ailbhe Darcy’s “Service Not Included” situates familial connection in the Dundrum Shopping Centre, and Andrew Jamison deftly blends the underworld existing under Hades’s gaze with mojitos and binge-drinking in student pubs. The urgency of the private lyric holds us transfixed in Michelle O’Sullivan’s quiet couplets and in Leanne O’Sullivan’s sonnet “Sparrow.” Rebecca O’Connor makes the nursery-rhyme language of her “Lullaby” go suddenly strange, “all buzziness,” enacting for us what these poets all do: they transform the familiar and the known so that we see it anew. These poets represent just a handful of the many new voices writing in Ireland, for limitations of space permit only a small selection from a vibrant generation of writers. All chosen for this portfolio have grown up in Ireland and have published two or fewer collections.1 Finally, these are writers whose work is both challenging and aesthetically pleasing—the qualities of enduring poetry. [End Page 304] Kelly Sullivan Kelly Sullivan is a Ph.D. candidate at Boston College, where her dissertation looks at the role of epistles in the fiction and poetry of late-modernist Irish and British writers. She is also the editorial assistant at Éire-Ireland. She has recently published essays on Irish visual artists Harry Clarke and Gerard Dillon. Her novel Winter Bayou appeared in 2005. Footnotes 1. An exception is Leanne O’Sullivan, whose third full-length collection was just released in Ireland in April 2013. Copyright © 2013 Irish American Cultural Institute

Tunisian Migrant Journeys: Human Rights Concerns for Tunisians Arriving by Sea

In part due to its location on the North African coast, in conjunction with its history of being a former French protectorate, Tunisia has become an important country of emigration to the European Union. In particular, maritime arrivals have become a concern for European states, for both humanitarian and security reasons. The experiences of Tunisian irregular migrants arriving to the EU by sea, who are then detained and returned, highlights the multitude of human rights issues that arise across their journey as they interact with the various stakeholders involved—Tunisian and Libyan smugglers, EU and Tunisian authorities and NGOs, amongst others. The situation for these migrants at sea and during rescue and interception operations can most directly involve such issues as the right to life, access to food and water, access to emergency healthcare and access to information. The next stages of detention and return (either immediately or when later identified on EU territory) can most directly involve human rights issues related to the identification and referral mechanisms for groups at risk, access to information and legal remedy, the right of “non-refoulement” and prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment. By examining Tunisian migrant experiences along the entirety of their trajectory, one can see the specific human rights issues that arise at each stage for maritime arrivals—from departure to return. The article will examine these human rights concerns in the context of the Tunisian migrant journey, focusing on the four identified stages of the situation at sea, rescue or interception, detention and return. The article will present results from qualitative in-depth interviews conducted for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency in 2011 with 15 Tunisian migrants who had arrived by sea to Italy between 2005 and 2011 and were returned to Tunisia between 2008 and 2011, complemented by interviews with two Tunisian fishermen and an anonymous Tunisian non-governmental stakeholder.

Cohesion without participation: immigration and migrants' associations in Italy

ABSTRACT Italian migration and citizenship policies tend to deny the fact that immigration in Italy is now a structural phenomenon embedded in the labour market and Italian society. The first part of Mantovan's article examines this denial in terms of the apparent difficulty many in Italian society have in accepting the social changes caused by Italy's rapid transition from a country of emigration to one of immigration. She argues that this reluctance to accept the fact of immigration is exacerbated by Italy's fragile national social cohesion, which has led to policy attempts to buttress social cohesion with respect to immigrants' relationship to Italian society. The Italian version of social cohesion is based on an ‘implicit model’ of immigrant integration and a citizenship regime defined by jus sanguinis. The second part of her paper evaluates Italian social cohesion as to how it manages the social changes caused by immigration, and looks at the evolution and characteristics of immigrants' participation in migrant associations. The principal measure adopted, that is, to include selected, co-opted migrant representatives from immigrant groups in consultative and advisory bodies, remained too dependent on the Italian authorities and voluntary organizations. These political migrants' associations ultimately failed, and led immigrants to withdraw and form their own cultural associations that better met their needs. Accordingly, the measures taken to promote migrants' participation through immigrants' associations functioned more as a mechanism to reduce ethnic complexity and the Otherness represented by migrants rather than as a viable, long-term means of facilitating their access to Italian citizenship. Overall, Italian policies have weakened social cohesion by reproducing and reinforcing structural inequalities among immigrants.

The Right of Immigrants to Vote in Local Elections in Greece

Legal regime of foreigners in Europe has gained in recent years after a change of populations of particular importance that grow over the years (Vlahos G., Legality of persons and individuals, Volume of the Greek Supreme Court II, 1982, pg. 25, Venizelos E., European Citizenship and the Greek Constitution,Greek Legal Rewiev EEEyrD, 1993, pg. 271). This paper will look as a host country of emigrants. The large number of immigrants was certainly due to her disorder in the Greek population. The biggest challenge of the present and future is the integration of foreigners into the Greek society, which relates to integration of a number of legal issues related to the principle of equilibrium (by country of origin) and the principle of proportion (Dimitropoulos G. A., The Constitutional Rights of the foreigners in Greece, 2004, pg. 10). Sanctions and protection of any kind of a right of immigrants is a condition self-understanding, which should always be taken into account in Greece and not only there, but in any state that is founded on the principles and values of modern democracy. Given this principle, Greece in its recent law that was passed by the Greek Parliament approved by a majority of voting rights of immigrants resident in Greece and the right to be elected as members of the municipal councils or municipal councils if they possessed residence permit required by this law (Pasok party voted in favor and two far-left party SIRIZA, and the right against two parties, Laos and Nea Dimikratia, while the Communist Party voted abstention). The truth is that this law constitutes a legal innovation for Greece, a country that suffers from a lack of modern legislation on the legal treatment of foreign nationals who were permanent resident in Greece (Kakalis P., Greek legislation, the right of foreigners, 2005, pg. 45). On the following pages will analyze the background of the establishment of the Greek legislation on foreigners, the rights accorded to them by the law of 2010 (3838/2010), which will essentially be viewed in sections 14-21, stipulating the franchise of foreign immigrants in Greece, their right to be elected in local elections and the decision of the Greek court which seeks cancellation of articles based on the principle of popular sovereignty and several other articles of the Constitution Greek ( Papasiopi,Pasia. Z, The new Law 3386/2005 for foreigners, Thoughts and problematics, 2006, pg. 43.). DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n2p19

Evaluation of Use of Stage of Tobacco Epidemic to Predict Post-Immigration Smoking Behaviors

This research uses the Lopez stage of tobacco epidemic model to evaluate post-immigration smoking behavior. Stage is a composite measure of tobacco norms of a country: smoking prevalence, cigarette consumption, and tobacco-related morbidity. The Lopez model characterizes the changing relationship between smoking prevalence and tobacco-related mortality and morbidity as a country progresses through the 4 successive stages of the tobacco epidemic. Survey data from Southeast Asian and Latino immigrants (from stage 1 and stage 2 countries) (n = 2,076) were used to evaluate stage of tobacco epidemic of country of emigration. Stage was compared with standard acculturation measures and community identification measures to understand post-immigration smoking behavior in the United States. Comparative analysis by stage and gender includes bivariate associations and logistic regression models to predict post-immigration smoking behavior. Males:Pre-immigration prevalence and consumption rates of our study sample conform to prevalence and consumption of stage 1 and stage 2 countries predicted by the Lopez model. Post-immigration smoking uptake is equivalent to pre-immigration uptake for stage 1 males. The uptake rate for stage 2 males post-immigration is significantly lower (22.1%) than pre-immigration uptake (41.4%). Stage is a statistically significant predictor of post-immigration smoking uptake (OR = 3.08, CI = 1.82-5.22, p < .01). Females:Stage of country of birth is not significantly predictive of post-migration smoking uptake. The finding of stage to be a strong predictor of post-immigration smoking behavior among males provides a promising measurement tool. Prevalence and consumption of females in our study sample support the need for revisions to the stage model.

Population change in Europe: turning challenges into opportunities

Population dynamics are a major driver of social change. European countries exhibit a wide variety of demographic trends and patterns which reflect their social, economic and cultural diversity and history. Increasing longevity and sustained low fertility spur rapid aging. Living longer, healthier and with smaller families also brings opportunities.Europe’s population is also becoming more diverse which may promote economic growth but can also strain social cohesion and deplete human resources in countries of emigration. Population growth has slowed down across Europe and population decline is becoming a reality for an increasing number of countries and regions. In addition, the declining potential workforce brings challenges to labour markets and economic growth. Emerging new demographic realities inEuropeare described. Demographic trends are shown to not play out the same everywhere. This rich demographic diversity needs to be taken into account by policymakers. The paper explores how to make the best use of the rich potential embodied in Europe’s population and proposes investing in people is a viable way to turn population challenges into opportunities and to break new ground in promoting a society for all generations and genders.

The Current Scheme to Manage Migration between Europe and Cape Verde: Promoter of Development or Tool for Border Closure?

ABSTRACTThis paper analyses cooperation between Europe and Cape Verde in the field of migration policy. Such cooperation fits into a broader trend that sees migrant‐receiving countries engage in agreements with sending states, in a way that is expected to bring together Western states' concerns with the control of migration and less‐developed countries' needs in terms of development aid and access to regular migration opportunities. The Republic of Cape Verde has signed and is negotiating several treaties and arrangements, especially with the European Union and its member states. A key factor here is Cape Verde's long‐standing reliance on emigration and the consequently problematic reduction of emigration opportunities in a world that is closing its borders to foreign (regular) workforce. A closer look at the cooperation dynamics between sending and receiving countries reveals, however, that management schemes are potentially biased in favour of developed countries, which would then use them to secure the cooperation of sending and/or transit countries to their own political objectives. The purpose of this paper is therefore to assess whether traditional emigration countries such as Cape Verde can reasonably expect such bilateral regimes of migration management to fit their interests or if this kind of cooperation will merely establish a basis for supporting European Union‐driven political agenda. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Tarptautinė migracija struktūrinimo teorijos požiūriu

Contemporary international migration is specific by its own connectedness – it has the capacity to make multilayer connections with an individual, family, society or world contexts. It means that migration is a consequence of past events in history and at the same time it is the background for future events. This article proposes to look at migration through the lens of structuration theory, particularly as structuration process, which is perceived as social systems production and reproduction performed through social conduct. Structuration theory allows connecting micro and macro levels analytically, presents mutual interdependence between social structure and human agency rather than antinomy. This theory creates the background to research a reciprocal relation between individual and social structure, namely, it allows revealing interaction between migrant and social totality, by which it is influenced, where it is acting and what it changes by acting. In order to present theoretical context, macro and micro level migration theories and their applications in the works of authors of Lithuania are also reviewed in the article. The method of scientific literature analysis was applied and it enabled to understand international migration as a continuous interaction between migrants and economic, political, social and cultural contexts on macro level in sending and receiving countries. In the view of structuration theory, migration is seen as a recursive process, formed and transformed by active agents and itself shaping and structuring subsequent social behaviour of agents. Both structural determinants in the countries of emigration and immigration and acknowledgment of migration as an efficient strategy for life betterment create a new cultural element in the social structure that influences migration decision making of other people.