Let workers move : using bilateral labor agreements to increase trade in services
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Let workers move : using bilateral labor agreements to increase trade in services
(Directions in development, . Trade)
World Bank, c2013
Available at 17 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
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Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB) Library , Kobe University図書
331.1-291081201400067
Note
Includes bibliographical references
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Unlike the movement of capital, the movement of labour across countries remains highly restricted - despite the huge global returns to international labour mobility. If the benefits of temporary labour mobility are so great, why is there not more movement? Progress appears to have been stymied not by the forum of negotiations but by the political sensitivity associated with even temporary labour mobility. To circumvent this problem, the use of bilateral labour agreements, which are generally not part of trade agreements, has been proposed as an alternative means of increasing temporary labour mobility.
This book analyses the viability and performance of these agreements as a complement to other efforts to liberalise the temporary movement of people. It is based on the experiences of sending and receiving countries in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
Although bilateral labour agreements are not designed to promote services exports by the sending country, they can be used to do so. Countries can design flexible strategies that combine both international trade and bilateral labour agreements. Trade agreements can provide rules and disciplines that grant market access for a wide range of activities. In contrast, bilateral labour agreements can allow countries, especially developing countries, to focus on the temporary movement of very specific categories of workers, such as computer programmers or electricians within the construction sector.
The experiences of some Caribbean countries, the Pacific Islands countries, and the Philippines illustrate the importance of shared responsibility-at the design, implementation, and institutional levels. At the design level, sending and receiving countries need to agree on a set of objectives and align the design to meet them. At the implementation level, joint and cooperative management involving state and nonstate actors on both sides is required. At the institution-building level, needs must be jointly diagnosed, capacity constraints addressed, and, if possible, progress monitored and evaluated.
Bilateral labour agreements can be an attractive option for middle-income countries whose migratory flows are relatively small and do not generate fears in receiving countries. Source country governments should make credible commitments to ensure the temporary nature of these flows. In conjunction with the private sector, they should establish mechanisms for selecting the sectors to promote in target markets.
by "Nielsen BookData"