Migration studies

The most appealing thing about the migration studies is that reasearchers can study migration in relation to a wide range of issues. MERM program provides us to elaborate on these various issues. One of the interesting topics that we have referred to recently is about the labor migration position of migrants in the host country. It was really interesting to examine this subject by taking into account the social capital theory. Here is a summary of the discussion based on the study done by Aguilera and Massey. Aguilera and Massey suggest that the social capital which they define as “the network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition”, lead to a better economic performance of the immigrants because immigrants are able to convert this social capital to jobs and earnings. Authors affirm that social capital directly improves the efficiency and effectiveness of job research, indirectly influences the job research methods and the sector of employment, as a result of which immigrants yield to core benefit of foreign employment: better jobs and higher wages. Plus, the social network composed of relatives and friends who have migration experiences, provides immigrants better and more robust information about the labor market, job search methods, how to present yourself to employers and how to behave on the job and what wages to ask for etc. All this knowledge gathered on the labor market through the social network improves the economic performance of the immigrants by acculturating them to the demands of the host country’s labor market system and functioning. Furthermore, the weak social ties also play a role in immigrants’ economic involvement by providing immigrants information about the job openings and new opportunities.
According to authors, all these advantages related to social capital let especially the undocumented immigrants to get and retain good jobs with higher salaries and to improve the benefits of employment in the host country. Since undocumented immigrants lack the formal right of employment in the country and they are in a more fragile situation due to fear of detection and deportation, compared to the documented immigrants who are in a stronger bargaining position in the labor market, social capital plays a more determinant role in their better economic achievement. I hope this was interesting for you to read and get an idea about the content of the discussions in MERM program.