EXPANDING JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR PACIFIC ISLANDERS THROUGH LABOUR MOBILITY

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at Home Away
EXPANDING JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR PACIFIC
ISLANDERS THROUGH LABOUR MOBILITY
The World Bank
Manjula Luthria Ron DuncanRichard Brown
Peter Mares Nic Maclellan with Heather Booth
Guangyu Zhang Maheshwar Rao Fakavae Taomia
John Connell Eliana Jimenez Gareth Leeves
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Size and Geography pose constraints in the
Pacific

• World Bank strategy is two pronged
• Bring jobs to the people
• Take people to the jobs
• Export diversification but met with import
  barriers

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CHAPTER TWO
The Young and the Restless the challenge of
population growth
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Excess labour meets excess demand

• Population growth estimated under revised
  fertility, mortality, migration rates
• Employment creation unlikely to keep up with
  population growth, esp. Melanesia
• Converse true in neighbouring developed markets

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CHAPTER THREE
Cents and Sensibility the economic benefits of
remittances
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Impact of remittances at household level?

• Small amounts of money sent, even after migrant
  away for a long time
• Usually to parents, siblings, later to build nest
  egg
• Even HH w/o migrants receive remittances

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Impact of remittances at household level?

• Reduce poverty
• Improve income distribution
• Increase investment in education
• Some business activity spurred

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The great falsehoodsdebunked

• Remittances spent on consumption are wasted
• Remittances should/can be chanelled into
  investment
• Remittance-dependent communities
• Negative impact on labour supply, similar to
  resource rents

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CHAPTER FOUR
Neighbours making bilateral worker schemes a
win-win
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Pro-poor migration ?

• Balance in migration badly needed
• Temporary movements for unskilled, bilaterally
  negotiated

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Can bilateral schemes work?

• Receivers concerns Overstaying? Workers rights?
  Cost burden? Viability? Changing labour market
  conditions?
• International issues WTO compatibility?
• Senders concerns country preparation?

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Receivers concerns

• Design schemes with 4 Cs
• Cost sharing
• Circular flows
• Choice of workers qualifications
• Commercial viability (6 months 5000 savings)

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International issues WTO

• Fundamental
• Migration and WTO dont mix
• MFN and prices-not-quantities will not apply to
  labour
• Practical
• Service liberalization different from agriculture
  or manufacturing
• Economic Integration schemes will allow bilateral
  arrangement

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Sending Country concerns

• Workers Rs (recruitment, rights, return)
• Capacity to regulate
• Ability to design incentives penalties
• Financial obligations
• Travel costs, taxation
• Remittance flows, transaction costs are high

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World Bank role

• Identify policies to assist small remote
  developing countries in reducing economic
  vulnerability
• Develop empirical and analytical tools to
  understand the scope and potential of labour
  mobility in the region
• Elevate labour mobility from domestic immigration
  policy to an international development issue
  undertake policy advocacy on behalf of small
  countries

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• Be an honest broker in the dialogue on this
  sensitive topic in a politically neutral manner
• Facilitate labour mobility through advice and
  technical assistance to prepare sending country
  systems to improve the supply chain