Replacement migration on the edge of the European Union: Wasting human capital?

A great deal of research has examined the degree to which migration acts as a regulator of labour supply and demand. This research considers the economic development potential of migration by examining whether replacement migration can be harnessed in peripheral locations to offset the loss of human capital resulting from emigration. The analysis focuses on Eastern Poland and includes data from Ukrainian migrants, Polish emigrants and Polish nationals. Our results suggest that Ukrainian labour migrants have the potential to operate as replacement migrants, offsetting the loss of human capital associated with the out-migration of Polish nationals. However, there are two important caveats. First, the legal-administrative framework must place labour migrants on equal footing with host nationals and develop a comprehensive integration strategy. Second, the wasted human capital associated with replacement migration must be acknowledged as a central cost of utilizing replacement migration as a development strategy.