There has been an unprecedented increase in international population movement in the Asia-Pacific region in the last decade. The causes of this are complex and associated with the rapid economic and social change in the region, the forces of globalization, improvements in transport and communication and proliferation of migration networks. However, the present paper suggests that one element which needs to be considered in explaining contemporary international migration but especially in anticipating trends over the next decade are the differential patterns of growth of population within the region. While population growth overall has slowed, the work force age groups will continue to grow rapidly in Asia over the next decade or so and the contrasts between individual countries will increase. The proportion in the peak mobility age groups will thus continue to grow rapidly in particular countries and will be one of the elements contributing to increased levels of international migration within and out of the region.

Luis, P.K. and Qiming Liu
"Urban Residentship and Return Migration to Shanghai in the Aftermath of the Cultural Revolution," Vol. 7 (1), p. 27-42, 1998

Young people were sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution and were later allowed to return home in the 1970s. This paper examines the return migration of Chinese youth from the countryside based on officially sanctioned reasons and grounds. The most often used reasons or grounds were in fact claims to urban residentship arising from connections to the city by previous residence, by birth and by family. Claimants negotitated with the state in a cultural language which rationalizes the claimed needs in terms of traditional social codes. The study reveals that the passive and submissive image the Chinese civil society outwardly present is deceptive. Their claims, however, still fall short of modern social citizenship.

Mullan, Brendan P.,  Chun-Hao Li , Rita S. Gallin and Bernard Gallin
"Family and Internal Migration in Taiwan," Vol. 7 (1), p. 43-66, 1998

In this paper we examine internal migration in Taiwan in the 1960s when rural economic conditions were volatile, the shift from agriculture to non-farm employment was gaining momentum, and the government's policy of industrialization through export was adopted. Migration is seen as one component of households' survival/adaptation strategy and accessibility to land, participation in local wage labor markets, and access to migrants' social networks are the mechanisms through which households determine and deploy their migration strategies. Our empirical analyzes are consistent with our a priori theoretical expectations that household access to land, participation in the local wage labor force, and access to migrants' social networks directly influenced how families in Taiwan deployed migration as a household survival strategy.

Nagasaka, Itaru
"Kinship Networks and Child Fostering in Labor Migration from Ilocos, Philippines to Italy," Vol. 7 (1), p. 67-92, 1998

This paper is an attempt to analyze the process of contemporary overseas labor migration from a village in the Ilocos region in the Philippines to Italy. As such, it will seek to outline the basic characteristics of the process of migration and examine them in relation to the local social structure. It will demonstrate how the Ilocanos responded to new opportunities of migration by manipulating existing social relations. Particular attention will be given to the process of constructing kinship networks among the migrants and the practice of fosterage in the homeland community, both of which are considered as adaptive processes to the new migration opportunity.

Frey, William H., Kao-Lee Liaw, Yasuko Hayase
"South-North Immigrants' Settlement and Opportunity Structures in the U.S.," Vol. 7 (1), p. 93-125, 1998

The increased migration to the U.S. from developing countries in Latin America and Asia has aroused concerns that new immigrants will impose new costs on U.S. citizens and the government. Less concern has been given to how current policy is affecting the social well being of immigrants them-selves. This article makes the case that the new immigration, motivated by kinship ties and family reunification provisions of U.S. immigration law leads to a clustering of new immigrants into areas that are no longer attracting large numbers of native born Americans. It is argued that the concentration of these groups into "high immigration regions" will limit their access to employment and education opportunities that would facilitate their spatial assimilation and upward mobility.