Migration brings substantial benefits to destination countries by easing labour shortages, for instance in such activities as childcare or house cleaning, low skilled jobs in the underground economy, but also jobs in industries requiring high skills and specialist knowledge. Migrants can contribute to the development of new technologies and skills, and enrich the human capital, create job opportunities and wealth that result from migrant entrepreneurial activities. These are factors that can enhance flexibility and productivity and contribute to economic growth and GDP.

The existing knowledge base in the area of contributions made by the diaspora in their host countries is weak and fragmentary and, combined with the lack of an adequate theoretical and empirical framework, increases the difficulty of assessing these effects properly. There is evidence to show that migration affects wages and employment in host countries only minimally, in contrast to the impression that migration to developed countries results in higher unemployment.

Migrants not only contribute to their host societies; they maintain links with their home countries and contribute to their development through several channels.