Structural Change, Economic Crisis and International Labour Migration in East Asia

Abstract

Increased international labour migration was one important dimension of structural change and globalisation in East Asia from the mid 1980s. Large international movements of mainly unskilled contract labour occurred in response to widening wage gaps between more and less developed countries in the region as the former experienced rapid structural change. Labour importing countries increasingly relied on unskilled migrant workers in less preferred jobs, in both export-oriented and non-tradable goods industries. The Asian economic crisis dramatically influenced the context in which international labour mobility had occurred in the pre-crisis period. Important issues included a possible reversal in role of international migration in structural change, both among unskilled contract workers and more skilled migrants, and replacement of migrants by unemployed local workers. The paper argues that the Asian economic crisis did not reverse the fundamental trend toward greater reliance on unskilled migrant workers in agriculture, manufacturing and service industries. Business and professional migration remained significant and even rose in some countries during the crisis. However, several countries were forced to develop a more coherent policy towards migrant workers, in light of the social impact of the crisis. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2002.

A Review on the Trends and Ethical Issues of Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific

“…Nonetheless, most researchers believe that the principal reason associated to labour migration to the oversea destination countries is due to the better wages that they are paid comparing to their countries of origin, and this enable them to send supplementary money to their families and help them to improve their living standards and the defrayal of the debts (Athukorala, 1992;Griffin, 1998cited in Wickarmasekara, 2000Jones & Pardthaisong, 1999;Manning, 2002;Baka & Laeheem, 2006;Skeldon, 2008a;Yoeh et al, 2010;Promsaka Na Sakolnakorn et al, 2013). The best example comes from the Middle East's situation in the mid-1980s when oil prices dropped abruptly, and the region lost many of its foreign migrants because the Gulf nations could no longer provide them with better wages (Wells, 1996).…”

“…Shortage of labourers is the primary reason for the migration diaspora (Wickarmasekara, 2000;Manning, 2002;Sorensen et al, 2002;Kaur, 2010). Most economically developed and developing countries face the problem of domestic worker shortages (Wickarmasekara, 2000;Sorensen et al, 2002;Kaur, 2009;Kaneko, 2009;Kwon & Chun, 2011).…”

“…The issue of labour migration diaspora traces close correlation with unemployment of the particular country of origin (Wickarmasekara, 2000;Manning, 2002;Sorensen et al, 2002;Kaur, 2010;Agbola & Acupan, 2010;Promsaka Na Sakolnakorn et al, 2013). According to Promsaka Na Sakolnakorn et al, (2013) the economic crisis was a pivotal factor that created unemployment issues in the Southeast Asian nations.…”

“…Thailand proposed to send 250,000 workers away home for similar reasons (Wickarmasekara, 2000). Liberalization of trade as a result of globalization has also shown a great impact on easing unemployment rates (Manning, 2002;Hasan et al, 2012;Dawson, 2013). The escalating unemployment rate (7%-12%) in Bhutan has compelled her to look for alternatives.…”

Thai Migrant Workers in Agriculture Farms in New Zealand: A Short Case Study

“…Development in communication has enhanced the speed of information transfer, allowing relatives living abroad to send ideas and information to their origin countries. Unemployment is a one factor that leads laborers to migrate away from their home countries (Manning, 2002). The economic crisis was one of the factors that caused unemployment in Southeast Asian nations and these countries have adopted various policies to ease this problem.…”