{"title":"Reducing Worker Exploitation in Time-Limited, Low-Wage Visa Schemes: Lessons from South Korea and Thailand","authors":"Arwen Joyce","doi":"10.1093/indlaw/dwad035","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"South Korea and Thailand are two of the seven biggest destination countries for low-wage migrant labour in East and Southeast Asia. They face similar demographic patterns and labour market dynamics but are very different when it comes to their economic, political and geographical contexts. Despite these differences, they have pursued a similar approach to the regulation of low-wage labour migration by taking a more active role in managing the recruitment and stay of migrant workers. As a result, outcomes for low-wage migrant workers in both countries are better than those experienced by their counterparts elsewhere in Asia. This analysis of the low-wage visa schemes in South Korea and Thailand contributes to a more robust understanding of how these restrictive labour migration regimes can be structured to improve outcomes for workers. The paper argues that lessons learned from the regulatory approaches pursued in South Korea and Thailand should be applied in other destination countries in Asia and beyond.","PeriodicalId":45482,"journal":{"name":"Industrial Law Journal","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Industrial Law Journal","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwad035","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
South Korea and Thailand are two of the seven biggest destination countries for low-wage migrant labour in East and Southeast Asia. They face similar demographic patterns and labour market dynamics but are very different when it comes to their economic, political and geographical contexts. Despite these differences, they have pursued a similar approach to the regulation of low-wage labour migration by taking a more active role in managing the recruitment and stay of migrant workers. As a result, outcomes for low-wage migrant workers in both countries are better than those experienced by their counterparts elsewhere in Asia. This analysis of the low-wage visa schemes in South Korea and Thailand contributes to a more robust understanding of how these restrictive labour migration regimes can be structured to improve outcomes for workers. The paper argues that lessons learned from the regulatory approaches pursued in South Korea and Thailand should be applied in other destination countries in Asia and beyond.
期刊介绍:
Industrial Law Journal is established as the leading periodical in its field, providing comment and in-depth analysis on a wide range of topics relating to employment law. It is essential reading for practising lawyers, academics, and lay industrial relations experts to keep abreast of newly enacted legislation and proposals for law reform. In addition Industrial Law Journal carries commentary on relevant government publications and reviews of books relating to labour law.