Scottish emigration in the 1980s: a migration channels approach to the study of skilled international migration

"British emigration is now dominated by skilled transient movements rather than traditional settler emigration movements. This switch requires new frameworks for migration analysis. A migration channels approach is advocated with attention focused on the roles of the internal labour markets of multi-national companies, international recruitment agencies and international skill transfers by small- and intermediate-sized companies in moulding contemporary skilled migration. The migration processes which have emerged in relation to the operation of these three channels can be differentiated in terms of migrant characteristics, the status of migration contracts and patterns of movement. The regional dimension is highlighted in this article by contrasting the experience of recent Scottish emigration with that of the South-East of England. Three data sources (the International Passenger Survey, the results of a survey questionnaire, and company case study material) are employed to illustrate the nature of Britain's main migration channels. It is argued that the three channels are responsible for a selective structuring of the British migration system."