Labor Migration in the Postwar Period

Abstract

The existing theoretical literature on international labor migration has been constructed using a remarkably limited sample of empirical cases, relative to the available “population.” Germany and France have received a great deal of attention as the two largest importers of foreign labor in Europe. Writers have also focused on the US, Canada, and Australia as the main alternatives to the guestworker model. There are also contributions dealing with foreign workers in a wider variety of countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria, but most writings concerning these countries do not attempt to make theoretical statements concerning the causes of labor migration.¹