Managing Labor Migration in the Twenty-First Century [Hardcover]

Philip Martin (Author), Manolo Abella (Author), Christiane Kuptsch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2006

Why have ninety million workers around the globe left their homes for employment in other countries? What can be done to ensure that international labor migration is a force for global betterment? This groundbreaking book presents the most comprehensive analysis of the causes and effects of labor migration available, and it recommends sensible, sustainable migration policies that are fair to migrants and to the countries that open their doors to them.

The authors survey recent trends in international migration for employment and demonstrate that the flow of authorized and illegal workers over borders presents a formidable challenge in countries and regions throughout the world. They note that not all migration is from undeveloped to developed countries and discuss the murky relations between immigration policies and politics. The book concludes with specific recommendations for justly managing the world’s growing migrant workforce.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book offers a wealth of insights into managing labor migration, one of the greatest challenges facing nation states today."—Brunson McKinley, Director General, International Organization for Migration

(Brunson McKinley )

"This remarkable book reflects decades of study and reflection by experts working with the International Labor Organization. The scope of the erudition and the authoritativeness of the analysis in Managing Labor Migration in the Twenty-First Century simply dazzle."—Mark J. Miller, University of Delaware and Editor, International Migration Review

(Mark J. Miller )

"This is an important book. International labor migration is one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century, yet public discourse to date has been dominated by dubious analysis and interest group advocacy. The authors, three exceptionally well informed experts with no axes to grind, provide all of us with a refreshingly insightful and unbiased look at the many faces of migration."—Michael Teitelbaum, Sloan Foundation

(Michael Teitelbaum )

"As the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization pointed out, there are deep-seated imbalances in the current workings of the global economy, and some of them could be diminished through a better managed regime that eliminates exploitation of migrants. Managing Labor Migration in the Twenty-first Century sets out suggestions for cooperation to help ensure that labor migration reduces inequalities and contributes to our goal of decent work for all."—Juan Somavia, Director General of the International Labor Office

(Juan Somavia )

About the Author

Philip Martin is a professor at the University of California, Davis, and chairman of the UC Comparative Immigration and Integration Program. Manolo Abella is the head of the International Migration Programme of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva. Christiane Kuptsch is senior research officer at the ILO’s International Institute for Labour Studies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (January 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300109040
• ISBN-13: 978-0300109047
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Multi-faceted discussion of migration & its underlying factors, March 14, 2006

By 

Sutirtha Bagchi (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Managing Labor Migration in the Twenty-First Century (Hardcover)

This was the first book read by me exclusively on immigration and a multi-faceted discussion on what contributes to the demand and supply of immigrants. The book also takes a look at some of the programs which were initiated by various nations in the US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan and Thailand at different points of time, what the expectations were when the programs were initiated and how they have eventually stood up on those expectations. A common failure of all the temporary worker programs is best summed up in a line from the book "There is nothing more permanent than temporary workers." Quite true. While governments and bureaucrats who frame the provisions of guest worker programs might expect that employers will register all their immigrant workers even when it takes them several months of wages to go through the whole registration process and immigrants themselves will return to their home nations after staying in the host nations for a few months, the realities are far more complex. With time, employers get used to having a virtually inexhaustible source of cheap and docile labor while the immigrants themselves get used to the higher wages and higher living standards of the host nations. As a remark on the very last page of the book makes clear: "What is worse than being exploited abroad? Not being exploited abroad."

The book overall is a serious read for someone who is interested in the topic of migration and the demand and supply conditions leading up to it. Not only does it offer different perspectives that are drawn from a wide range of nations over several decades, it also provides some interesting factoids that would be interesting to some. To mention just two: The total number of immigrant workers at about 90 million constitutes 3% of the global labor force. Yet another- While 60% of the migration is in the developed nations (about half of that in the US), the rest 40% of the immigration is in the developing nations such as Thailand which in the short span of a few decades turned from a net exporter of immigrants to a net exporter of immigrants.

Recommended for the serious reader and someone who is interested in how complex the realities of migration are.