Demographic analyzes of migration first came into play in 1885 in the Journal of the Statistical Societywhen geographer Ernest George Ravenstein rehearsed what he called “Laws of Migration” seeking to establish an explanation and trying to predict migration patterns in England.

In his seminal article, Ravenstein compared data from the 1871 and 1881 UK censuses and traced patterns of migratory movements and, based on his observations, devised a series of “Laws of Migration.” Among those laws, Ravenstein considered that there was a process of “absorption” in which the people immediately surrounding a rapidly growing place moved to it and the spaces they left behind were filled by others from more distant areas. This process continued until the underlying attraction behind the movement of stocks was no longer compelling enough to sustain momentum and the “migration” was complete. Furthermore, Ravenstein also claimed that there was a law of “dispersion”, which is the opposite of “absorption”.

Ravenstein suggests that the “laws of migration” were sustained by a series of “pull” factors and “push” factors. Pull factors attracted internal migration and applied to both the highly skilled and the less skilled, while push factors led migrants to leave their country of origin.

Examples of the “push” factors cited include high unemployment rates, low incomes, political instability, poor security, and natural disasters. Family connections, greater income opportunities, better health care, greater career development, higher standards of living, and overall quality of life were cited as examples of “pull” factors. Naturally, the “pull” factors can be enhanced as a result of the host nation’s stance to encourage the influx of migrants where their desire to use foreign nationals in their economies is driven by labor needs, the availability of resources from land, general economic opportunities, and political liberalism.

Unsurprisingly, Hong Kong has a number of “pull” factors that draw highly skilled immigrants from more than 120 economies into our economy, and people who have gone through the migration process to HKSAR generally agree that These include the following:

1. Geographical location, especially its proximity to mainland China.

2. Excellent job opportunities.

3. Relatively high wages.

4. Low tax rates.

5. Easy and efficient immigration procedures.

6. Excellent telecommunications.

7. A predominantly bilingual / trilingual workforce.

8. Low risk of terrorism.

9. The rule of law.

10. Low level of overt racism.

In recent years, Hong Kong has introduced specific immigration programs to encourage these “pull” factors, including the Mainland Talent Admission Program, the Quality Migrant Admission Program, Immigration Agreements for non-local graduates, and the Capital Investment Participant Program. The rest of immigration is managed within the framework of the General Employment Policy and the dependent family relations policy.