Managing Labor Migration in the Twenty-first Century
Given declining birthrates and increased longevity in rich countries, international migration is likely to become a more important feature of the international landscape in the coming decades. Destinations of immigration include not only the rich countries of Europe and North America, but also emerging-market countries, such as Thailand, whose economies are prospering. This book reviews the issues involved in international migration, paying special attention to programs for temporary workers in a number of countries. The authors discuss dispassionately both the advantages and the disadvantages of these programs, and why they have often been terminated after some years (for example, in the United States and Germany). Overall, they find such programs far preferable to the growing number of illegal workers, who are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation both by employers and by migration brokers. The book usefully provides in an appendix the International Labor Organization's conventions on migrant labor.
Sign-up for free weekly updates from ForeignAffairs.com.