New Immigration Articles

Hre are two new immigration articles from the Social Science Research Network (www.ssrn.com):

International Migration and Trading Regimes: Nafta and the EU in Interdisciplinary Perspective Jagdeep S. Bhandari  (Florida Coastal School of Law)  Bocconi School of Law Student-Edited Papers, No. 2009-05/EN LAW & GLOBALIZATION, Bocconi School of Law Student-Edited Papers, ed., VDM Publishing, 2009.   Abstract: This paper investigates the policy arguments underpinning the relationship between free trade and migration, as embodied in the regulatory choices made in two of the most significant experiments of international economic cooperation, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union. Prof Bhandari recognizes that legal regimes relating to trade and migration do not so much rely on independent normative underpinnings, capable of imposing particular choices ‘by necessity,’ but ought rather to be traced back to a wealth of other policy and practical considerations, such as voter preferences, as well as more general concerns about financial well-being or social cohesion. In order to shed light on the possible rationales for the different regulatory choices observed within the framework of NAFTA and the European Union, the author therefore brings to bear on the problem a wealth of different perspectives, such as those advanced in economics, political science, public choice theory and sociology, to name but a few.

Open Borders, Intellectual Property Policy, and Federal Criminal Trade Secret Law Shubha Ghosh (Wisconsin).  Abstract: The mobility of skilled labor across firms has been identified as an important source of regional advantage. Scholars have shown how cultural, economic, and legal conditions (such as the nonenforceability of covenants not to compete) affect the development of high tech sectors that are geographically concentrated. This paper explores to what extent these theories are applicable to the movement of skilled labor across national borders. This inquiry is relevant because the United States enacted the Economic Espionage Act in 1996, and this Act has been used to prosecute non-US skilled workers for theft of trade secret. The Act has application to mobility within the United States as well. To what extent are justifications for the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 mitigated by its effects on labor mobility and the accompanying transfer of knowledge and technology? This paper addresses this question through a theoretical discussion of international trade and mobility of labor and knowledge across borders and an assessment of the case law under the Economic Espionage Act. The author criticizes the Act because of its effect on the transfer of knowledge and makes the case for open borders to promote the mobility of knowledge. Several policy implications are drawn for limits on the Economic Espionage Act, including extraterritorial application of state trade secret law and federal patent law.

KJ