A cultural economy perspective on service sector migration in the global city: the case of Hong Kong.

PIP: The authors of this article posit that studies of international labor migration must include global economic forces and mediating sociocultural influences. This study used 1996 census and interview data from Hong Kong to analyze immigration patterns. Interviews were conducted among 975 skilled expatriates and among 40 less skilled migrants. The rate of growth of the immigrant population in Hong Kong, was higher in 1991 and 1996 than the native population, especially among Japanese and Filipinos. Filipinos were the largest and most economically active number of non-Chinese migrants in these years. In accordance with Hong Kong's restructuring, jobs shifted from plant and machine operators to service and shop sale workers. The proportion of the population working in manufacturing was 41% in 1991, and 19% in 1996. The proportion working in trade, hotel, and restaurant services increased from 19% to 25%. Over 80% of the US and Japanese worked in managerial and professional jobs. The concentration of US and Japanese workers reflects Hong Kong's position as a global financial center. The proportion of Chinese nationals and US and Japanese migrants engaged in financing, trade, or management jobs was greater than among natives. Chinese immigrants were more likely, and Filipinos and Thais were less likely, to have less skilled occupations than natives. There were also cultural differences between the high and low wage sector by country of origin. The case studies of migrants illustrate economic reasons for migration and cultural differences in type of employment. Filipinos were more likely to be maids than Thais.^ieng

A migration channels approach to the study of professionals moving to and from Hong Kong.

"This article evaluates the concept of migration channels, identifying the strengths and weaknesses that have emerged from use of a migration channels framework in international migration research. Using professional migration to and from Hong Kong in the 1990s as an empirical lens, it is argued that the meso-scale understanding offered by examining the effect of migration channels is valuable. This is illustrated in terms of the contrasting channels used by different professions, as well by migrants motivated to move by citizenship as opposed to career reasons."

Placing identity: interviews with Hong Kong Chinese immigrants in Britain and Canada.

"This paper explores the ¿borderline community of migration'.... The placing of migrant identities is examined in the context of Hong Kong immigrants in Britain and Canada. Changes in identity and the meaning of the multiplicity of migrant identities are explored through interview material. The tensions between the multiple facets of migrants' identities reflect the sociopolitical relationships within and between places. The resolution of these tensions is partially revealed in the hybridity and fluidity of migrants' articulation of their identities, whilst maintaining a primary identification with their culture of origin."

Migrating to learn and learning to migrate: a study of the experiences and intentions of international student migrants.

"The research reported here evaluates whether students come to the UK mainly for educational reasons, and therefore perceive their stay as temporary, or whether emigration for study is being used as part of a conscious strategy by people intending to become future labour migrants.... The simplest interpretation of the results appears to be that migration, experienced as a result of international moves for study purposes, does not influence planning of further migration moves. But the research also indicates that migration for education is closely tied to other types of population redistribution and should be treated by population geographers as an integral part of international migration systems." Data were collected by questionnaire survey from 349 engineering students at Hong Kong universities and 82 Hong Kong students studying engineering in the UK.

Demography, destiny and population policies.

PIP: This article considers the aftermath of the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development and the later Laxon, Sweden meeting of about 40 academic geographers, who addressed the implications of the Plan of Action for national policy. A recent International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) member synthesized conference impact on member nations. Martens from IUSSP offered the critique that the 381 recommendations were philosophically incoherent and poorly integrated and did not distinguish between government as a "doer of things" from government as "organizer and guarantor of a legal-institutional framework for allowing individuals and voluntary groups to seek improvements." This article discusses the apparent gulf between the views of population researchers and that of policy makers. It is reasoned that population policies do matter. The Club of Rome world model confirmed rapid population growth during 1972-90. Population policies in the past emphasized a societal perspective rather than an individual one. Policies impact on individual decision making. Most population geographers emphasize four features of social change. 1) Policy must address suitable measures for easing social, economic, and political tensions that arise in the temporary experience of high population growth. 2) More sensitive models of demographic behavior need to be developed, in order to account for the highly uneven patterns of fertility and mortality. Policy should not focus exclusively on family planning and should take into account the cultural and socioeconomic context. 3) Migration pressures from poor to rich countries have increased. Policy should address international migration. 4) People adapt quickly to new policy measures and apply policies effectively in their own life. Policies fail when the top-down approach does not include adequate research into values and behavior of the persons most affected by policy. These four points were discussed throughout this issue of "Applied Geography."^ieng

The British who are not British and the immigration policies that are not: the case of Hong Kong.

"While 'closed-door' immigration policies are adopted by most countries, 'exceptionalist' legislation is often made to permit entry of special immigrant groups. An example is the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990, which was passed in the run-up to the change in sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997. Britain's increasingly restrictive immigration policies prior to 1990 [have] resulted in the majority of Hong Kong citizens having British nationality (as British Dependent Territories citizens) but without the right of abode in the U.K. The 1990 Act conferred full British citizenship status on 50,000 heads of households in Hong Kong." The authors conclude that "in a world of marked global inequalities, immigration pressure will become even more extreme and is likely to produce an increasing number of cases of exceptionalist immigration legislation in countries with both ¿open' and 'closed'-door policies.'

An economic evaluation of a clinical trial to compare automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy with microdiscectomy in the treatment of contained lumbar disc herniation.

STUDY DESIGN: A cost-effectiveness study of automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy (APLD) vs. microdiscectomy in the treatment of contained lumbar herniation in a randomized controlled trial. OBJECTIVES: To quantify hospital costs and other public sector expenditure; to collect socioeconomic data that might bear on the recovery rate of patients and their private costs; and to relate costs to clinical outcomes. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The authors are aware of no similar economic evaluation in this field. METHODS: The surgical procedures were costed from detailed lists of the time spent and resources used. Socioeconomic patient data were collected by questionnaires administered around the time of the operation and on follow-up at 6 months. Statistical analysis was by the chi-square method. RESULTS: There was no evidence that either procedure imposed significantly greater costs on patients or nonhospital medical services. CONCLUSION: It was demonstrated that, within the restrictions imposed by the data set, automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy was less cost-effective than microdiscectomy.

Discourse on migration and ethnic identity: interviews with professionals in Hong Kong.

"This paper has revealed a complex set of relationships between migration, place and ethnic identity [in Hong Kong]. On the one hand, ethnic identity is shaped by the places where people have lived, particularly the places where they have spent the early years of their life; on the other [hand], places--being the context for socialization--provide the milieux where people learn who and what they are and how to act...." The authors note that "while legislation clearly regulates levels of immigration, international migration is also self-regulated by potential migrants in relation to interpretations of their ethnic identities and their perceptions of 'other' places."

Population geography: disorder, death and future directions.

PIP: This is one in a series of reports on research trends in population geography. The author suggests that recent political changes concerning the breakup of the former Soviet Union and a possible decline in concern among developed countries about the problems of developing ones should affect the research agenda. Particular attention is given to studies done on differential mortality and internal migration in developed countries.^ieng

Population geography.

The author reviews recent changes in population research from a geographical perspective. "The deaths in 1990 of two of France's most distinguished demographers, Alfred Sauvy (1899-1990) and Jean Bourgeois-Pichat (1912-90)...seem an appropriate starting point from which to review progress in population research in the early 1990s....Relative to the lifespans and works of Bourgeois-Pichat and Sauvy, it is possible to discern progress in population studies as a whole and population geography in particular. Advances in technical aspects of measuring mortality, fertility and migration have been most marked, as have attempts to inter-relate these demographic processes. Progress towards explanation of population-related phenomena has been slower. Advances have not been towards building more sophisticated general theories, but towards new and more insightful forms of explanation." The author then summarizes other research literature on fertility, migration, and population subgroups. The geographical scope is worldwide.

The challenge facing population geography.

The current status of the study of population geography is examined, with some reference to the situation in the United Kingdom. The authors note that whereas the volume of studies in this area indicate its healthy growth, the subdiscipline has become increasingly distant from mainstream geography and runs the risk of being absorbed into general demography. The authors suggest that "population geographers, while taking a serious interest in the methods and philosophy of the neighbouring discipline of demography, should look elsewhere to find direction for their subdiscipline."

Population geography.

PIP: The author reviews current trends in the study of population geography and identifies a movement of the subdiscipline during the 1980s toward a possible redefinition as spatial demography. He then outlines the main research topics pursued by population geographers during this period. The geographical scope is worldwide.^ieng

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."

From settlers to skilled transients: the changing structure of British international migration.

"This paper examines trends in British emigration using the results of the International Passenger Survey. Settlement emigration has declined in importance while in the early 1980s temporary skilled labour transfers have become dominant. Two parallel mechanisms are proposed to explain the regional patterns of skilled emigration, with particular emphasis being given to the role of international recruitment agencies in controlling which skills are sought in certain regional labour markets."

Regional economic disparities and population change in Morocco.

"The paper examines patterns of population change in Morocco for the decade 1971-1981. They do not mirror those which might have been expected in view of the national economic and spatial structure of this country. The differences are attributed to international economic forces which have transcended national forces in shaping population patterns in parts of the country."

Migrants' dreams and planners' nightmares: international labour migration in the Arab world and the growth of two sets of cities.

"The author investigates how trends in international labour migration in the Arab world have been paralleled by new directions in migration research....[She] seeks to evaluate why the urban impact of international migration is so great and outlines the considerable potential which exists for pursuing research on this aspect of urban development."