International migration, the economic crisis and the state: An analysis of Mediterranean migration to Western Europe

An analysis of labor migration from Mediterranean countries to Western Europe is presented. Attention is paid to the influence of the economic crises of the 1970s on this migration and to the impact of migration policies in countries of immigration with particular reference to the success of these policies in promoting return migration. The data concern the migration of Spaniards Yugoslavs Italians Turks and Moroccans to the Netherlands the Federal Republic of Germany and Switzerland. The authors note a substantial decline in labor migration after the oil crisis of 1973-1974 but a continuing migration of dependents up to 1980. Return migration which was substantial has declined as immigration has declined; the potential for further migration despite the increasing pressures for it in host countries is practically zero.