The DEMIG team have published these working papers to share the methodological rationale behind the selection, compilation and categorisation of migration data in constructing the DEMIG databases. The papers demonstrate to future users the potential use of this data.
Hein de Haas, Katharina Natter and Simona Vezzoli discuss present DEMIG POLICY, a new migration policy database that provides unmatched geographical and historical coverage. Never before have emigration policies been included in migration policy databases and in doing so, DEMIG attempt to overcome the common ‘receiving country bias’.
The authors show how DEMIG POLICY can provide important insights into the nature and evolution of migration policies, and their interaction with migration and broader processes of economic and political change.
In the second paper, Uncovering international migration flow data, authors Simona Vezzoli, María Villares-Varela and Hein de Haas describe two new databases that provide unprecedented coverage and detail of international migration flows. They have found that there is more quality migration flow data available than commonly assumed, and when used through the DEMIG databases this data can contribute to a better understanding of the nature, determinants and impacts of migration processes.