Mobility in Europe: Recent Trends from a Cluster Analysis
Author:Ioana Manafi, Daniela Marinescu, Monica Roman and Karen Hemming
JEL:J61, F22, C38, R23
DOI:
Keywords:mobility/migration, cluster analysis, migration patterns, sending/receiving
countries.
Abstract:
During the past decade, Europe was confronted with major changes and events offering
large opportunities for mobility. The EU enlargement process, the EU policies regarding
youth, the economic crisis affecting national economies on different levels, political
instabilities in some European countries, high rates of unemployment or the increasing
number of refugees are only a few of the factors influencing net migration in Europe. Based
on a set of socio-economic indicators for EU/EFTA countries and cluster analysis, the
paper provides an overview of regional differences across European countries, related to
migration magnitude in the identified clusters. The obtained clusters are in accordance with
previous studies in migration, and appear stable during the period of 2005-2013, with only
some exceptions. The analysis revealed three country clusters: EU/EFTA center-receiving
countries, EU/EFTA periphery-sending countries and EU/EFTA outlier countries, the
names suggesting not only the geographical position within Europe, but the trends in net
migration flows during the years. Therewith, the results provide evidence for the
persistence of a movement from periphery to center countries, which is correlated with
recent flows of mobility in Europe.