Labour market performance and migration flows - European ...

Chapter IIThe impact of migration on labour markets in Arab Mediterranean countriesparticipation of women in Palestine demonstrated (see Section 7.1). Male migration out of Palestineseems to have reinforced the diffusion of a conservative role for women in Palestinian society, whichis backed up by old religious interpretations, which also manifests itself through changes in the formsof women’s dresses (Hilal, 2007). Clearly, social remittances can differ widely depending on thedestination countries of migrants, and Hoodfar (1996) addresses the question of whether Egyptianmale migration represents a “’Feminization of Egyptian families’ or a reaffirmation of traditionalgender roles”, as migration to the Gulf countries could lead to cultural changes along the linesdescribed by Hilal (2007) for Palestine. 108De Haas (2006) argues that, at the Todgha oasis in Morocco, the change in social structures and theemancipation of subordinated groups through migration have led to the neglect of some traditionalactivities, which were regarded as having a low social status.Demand side of the labour market8. Consumption patterns8.1 Actual migration and consumption patternsThe evidence of the impact of migration on consumption patterns in AMCs is regrettably limited,though this could be substantial and not limited to the impact on private demand that arises because ofremittance transfers. Labaki (2006) focuses on the demand for consumption goods by Lebanesemigrants, which allow domestic producers to broaden the basket of goods that they export, with anensuing job-creation effect in the sectors that produce so-called ethnic goods, and in the trade sector.Similarly, Khelfaoui (2005) demonstrates that that the exports of Algerian products towards Canadahas increased because of local demand on the part of the Algerian Diaspora there, which has alsocontributed to the development of communication facilities, and the increasing use of Internet due tothe frequent contacts between emigrants and their families.Conversely, de Haas (2007) emphasizes the impact on the demand for labour in the tourism sectorin Morocco, as migrants who have a legal residence permit in the country of destination returnhome for their holidays. Along the same lines, Labdelaoui (2005) argues that tourism hasdeveloped in Algeria as a result of the visits of emigrants during their holidays, and that this isbecoming a matter of interest for the Algerian authorities.8.2 Return migrants and consumption patterns.No empirical evidence has been gathered to see whether return migrants represent a relevant channelof transmission of consumption models from the countries of destination to AMCs.However, we can advance a hypothesis based on the age of returnees: in section 3.2 we presumedthat the transmission of consumption models through return migrants is more important the lowertheir age. Data from the MIREM project indicate that returnees in Maghreb countries are quiteyoung: their average age is between 36 and 45 years. This is confirmed – for Tunisia – by theresults of a survey on population and employment carried out in 2006, according to which the108 The transfer of cultural norms does not run just in one direction: the paper by Antecol (2000) analyzes the gender gaps inlabour force participation rates across different migrant groups in the United States, and she finds that half of the variation infertility behavior across first-generation immigrants is explained by the gender gap which prevails in the home country, whilecultural assimilation is greater for the second- and third-generation of immigrants. This suggests that limited effects upon thelabour market of migrant-sending countries can be expected in the early phases of a migration episode, while these effectsclearly build up over time.139