International Migration from a Semi-Periphery City: The Case of Baia Mare

Many post-socialist cities in Romania experience population decline caused by both negative natural growth and large-scale international migration. This study seeks to advance an understanding of post-socialist migratory flows from the city of Baia Mare to Western labour markets in terms of its mode of incorporation into the global economy. Using a historical structural lens, the study traces the critical economic transformations, political moments or institutions that influenced migratory flows from Baia Mare. It argues that from its semi-peripheral position, the city’s role, after the regime change, became that of a supplier of cheap labour to Western Europe and a location for low added value industries. Despite its rapid economic growth due to reindustrialisation and its success in attracting relatively large shares of immigrants, its native urban population continues to decrease. The developing manufacturing industry specialised in intensive, low-paid, manual labour automatically excludes more educated and qualified labourers who continue to resort to international migration in order to survive or to improve the quality of their lives.