Will Somerville
UK Senior Fellow
Will Somerville joined the Migration Policy Institute as a Senior Policy Analyst in 2006, and is now UK Senior Fellow. He is also the Program Director for Unbound Philanthropy (UK) and Visiting Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield.
Prior to joining MPI, Mr. Somerville worked at the Commission for Racial Equality, the UK's Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, Cabinet Office, and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). He has authored more than 60 policy papers, chapters, and journal articles. His most recent book is Immigration under New Labour (2007, Policy Press).
He holds a master’s degree (with distinction) in social policy from the London School of Economics.
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This paper intends to provide a baseline of evidence for policymakers seeking to calibrate their immigration policy responses to the economic downturn, with a focus on the UK.
Public opinion supports the view that immigrants take natives’ jobs and reduce their wages, but most economists disagree. Although basic laws of supply and demand suggest that immigration could reduce wages by increasing the supply of workers, in reality the actual impact of immigration is likely to be small, especially in the long run.
This short briefing paper explores the potential effects of the economic crisis with respect to immigration across European Union Member States, and outlines how policymakers might respond to changing patterns of migrant inflows and outflows, and the consequences of the downturn on immigrants and their host communities.
This report explores the need for nations to adjust their thinking and policy toward attracting the coveted elite class of highly skilled global talent as emerging and middle-income countries increasingly attempt to woo back their nationals and engage their diaspora to help move their economy forward.
This report examines the advantages and disadvantages of two fundamentally different approaches to economic migrant selection—demand driven and employer led systems and human-capital-accumulation focused and government led systems, best illustrated by “points systems,” which apportion numerical values to desirable human-capital characteristics.
This brief takes a look at hometown associations (HTAs)—immigrant organizations based on a common hometown—and their often overlooked function as integration intermediaries in their country of destination.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who announced his resignation this week, leaves behind an immigration system that has been fundamentally reshaped. As MPI's Will Somerville explains, migration is now "managed" to favor migrants coming for work and study.
When the Dust Settles: Migration Policy after Brexit