Networks and their Influence on Migration Policy
Time and again politicians find that the goals of their migration policies are only partially achieved or not at all. Scientists have already been observing this phenomenon for three decades and call this the "policy gap" hypothesis: inadequate implementation of political measures or the difficulties of controlling migratory movements result in migration policy, which relates particularly to poorly-qualified migrant workers, having unintended consequences. The reasons are to be found in political, economic and, ever-increasingly, as of late, in social factors determined by migration networks. This policy brief aims to show the efficacy of these migration networks through the example of Romanian migration to Spain, and demonstrates how various features of these networks undermine the intended migration policy goals. (Published 10/2008)