Structural Change and International Labour Migration in East Asia

by Athukorala, Prema-chandra; Manning, Chris

• ISBN13: 9780195541731
• ISBN10: 0195541731
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book uses a comparative historical perspective and a common analytical framework to analyze the experiences of the seven major labor-importing countries in the region: Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures	viii
Preface	xii
Acknowledgments	xiv
Abbreviations	xvi
International Labour Migration: A Third Dimension of East Asian Growth	1	(10)
International Labour Migration and Structural Adjustment: An Analytical Framework	11	(16)
A `snap-shot' view of the Lewis model	12	(4)
Some qualifications	15	(1)
The open-economy Lewis model	16	(11)
The turning point and after	18	(9)
Japan: A Reluctant Host	27	(30)
Starting points	28	(2)
Structural change and labour-market response	30	(7)
Post-war recovery: rapid growth without migrant workers	30	(7)
Industrial maturity and labour-market tightening	37	(5)
The entry of migrant workers	42	(8)
Profiles of foreign workers	44	(5)
Recession and migrant workers	49	(1)
Policies	50	(2)
Conclusions	52	(5)
South Korea and Taiwan: Foreign Workers as a Last Resort	57	(55)
Starting points	58	(6)
Structural change	60	(4)
Labour-market change and adjustment	64	(25)
Unemployment and under-employment	70	(2)
Wages and productivity	72	(7)
Labour shortages and foreign workers	79	(10)
Coping with labour shortages	89	(13)
Education and skill upgrading	92	(4)
Investing abroad	96	(1)
Structural adjustment and policies towards foreign workers	97	(4)
South Korea: financial crisis and labour-market adjustment	101	(1)
Conclusions	102	(10)
Hong Kong and Singapore: City-States Shaped by Migrants	112	(37)
Starting points	114	(3)
Export-led industrialisation and the Lewisian turning point	117	(5)
Migrant flows	122	(7)
Foreign workers and structural change	129	(6)
Labour supply	130	(2)
Employment and industrial structure	132	(3)
Response to tightening labour markets	135	(5)
Policy	140	(5)
Conclusions	145	(4)
Malaysia and Thailand: Maintaining Competitiveness through Labour Migration	149	(61)
Starting points	151	(5)
Malaysia: from a labour-scarce economy to a labour-surplus economy	151	(3)
Thailand: chronic labour surplus	154	(2)
Economic development patterns	156	(4)
Foreign capital inflows	159	(1)
Labour-market transformation	160	(15)
Employment	160	(5)
Growth in labour supply	165	(2)
Wages and unemployment	167	(8)
Migrant workers	175	(4)
Structural change, skill shortages, and immigration	179	(20)
Shortages of skilled labour	183	(3)
Investment abroad	186	(2)
Policies towards migrant workers	188	(8)
The impact of the financial crisis	196	(3)
Conclusions	199	(11)
Conclusion	210	(11)
The context	211	(3)
Migrant workers	214	(2)
Policies and prospects	216	(5)
Appendix A: International labour migration and the real exchange rate	221	(3)
Appendix B: Thailand and Malaysia, indices of real output per worker, employment, real average wages, and unit labour costs, 1975--90	224	(1)
References	225	(20)
Index	245