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This paper draws together, in the form of a survey, a number of different aspects of the United Kingdom's international migration experience since the Second World War. The areas covered include changes in the volume and composition of international migration and the factors influencing migration; the background to, and the development of, restrictions on immigration; and the links between immigration policy and race relations. This is followed by an examination of the education and labour market status of immigrants and ethnic minorities as compared with native- born whites. Results from recent econometric research on wage and employment differentials are presented and interpreted in the wider context. Finally, the possible effects of migration on the economy at large are briefly discussed.

AbstractStudies of the determinants of emigration from Europe from 1850 to 1913 include the gains to migrants but often neglect the costs. One component of those costs is earnings forgone on the voyage. In this paper, I present new data on the voyage times for emigrants from the UK traveling to the United States and to Australia. Between 1853–7 and 1909–13 the voyage time from Liverpool to New York fell from 38 days to just 8 days (or 79 per cent). Over the same years, the emigrant voyage to Sydney fell by more in absolute terms, from 105 days to 46, but by less in relative terms (56 per cent). Differences in profiles of travel times are explained with a focus on the transition from sailing to steam ships and (for Australia) the use of the Suez Canal. Data series for fare prices and foregone wage costs during transit are combined to create new series on the 'total' cost of emigrant voyages. Econometric analysis of the determinants of UK emigration to the United States, Canada, and Australia supports the view that time costs mattered.

Abstract
I provide a new series of the average duration of emigrant voyages from Liverpool to New York from 1853 to 1913. Time on the crossing fell by 80 percent, from about 40 days to just eight, most of which occurred in the first 2 decades and was associated with the transition from sail to steam. The standard deviation of voyage durations also dramatically decreased. Although average transatlantic fares did not fall, if foregone earnings during the voyage are included, the total cost declined until the early 1900s, and especially so when measured in terms of the number of weeks' work.

AbstractThis paper revisits the determinants of emigration from the United Kingdom to the United States, Canada and Australia/New Zealand from 1870 to 1913. In the absence of restrictive immigration policies, the flow of emigration to these destinations responded to economic shocks and trends. Emigrants to Australia and New Zealand were more skilled on average than those heading across the Atlantic, a feature that does not correspond well with skill differentials in the manner predicted by the Roy model. While assisted passages (subsidised fares) increased the volume of emigration to Australia and New Zealand they cannot account for its higher skill content.

A minority of applicants for asylum in Europe gain some form of recognition as refugees, and this has been a controversial issue. From the early 2000s the EU introduced a series of directives to prevent a race to the bottom in asylum policies and to harmonise policy between destination countries but the results have not been fully assessed. In this paper I examine the determinants of recognition rates for asylum applicants from 65 origin countries to 20 European destinations from 2003 to 2017. The outcomes of the EU directives have been mixed, but taken together they are associated with increased recognition rates. These made a modest contribution to the trend increase in recognition rates most of which is due to increased political terror and human rights repression in origin countries. But differences between European countries remain large, even after accounting origin country composition and for differences in the adoption of EU directives. Some of this may be accounted for by differences in bureaucratic frameworks through which policy is administered.