This policy note offers motivation and a game plan for achieving a coherent and mutually beneficial labor migration system.1 It argues that migrant workers may make important contributions to ...economic growth and development in both sending and receiving countries if they find enabling conditions. To achieve a potential win-win-win situation requires (1) a sustainable migration management system that takes into account the interests of the various stakeholders involved; (2) a clear identification and articulation of objectives and interests in migration by key stakeholders, based on a common conceptual framework for migration and development; (3) regional and bilateral coordination mechanisms to balance these (potentially divergent) objectives and to reach compromise under labor agreements and policies; and (4) effective, evidence-based polices and public and private sector interventions to achieve the objectives that are known and applied at the levels of sending, receiving, returning, and circulating.
Access to social protection benefits for temporary migrant workers and their families in the receiving and/or sending countries can help to lower the social and financial risks of migrating. This ...chapter reflects the growing preoccupation of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) with social protection of temporary/circular labor migrants and their families (See Roundtable Session 2.1 on “Inclusion, protection and acceptance of migrants in society – linking human rights and migrant empowerment for development,” GFMD Athens, November 4–5, 2009, and Roundtable Session 2.1 on “Reducing the costs of migration and maximizing human development,” GFMD Puerto Vallarta, November 8–11, 2010). It showcases a conceptual framework for achieving such social protection and a review of country inventories of benefits available in nine OECD countries, Singapore, and six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It assesses these benefits against the conceptual framework and draws policy lessons from the case studies. The key conclusion is that most temporary migrants may be better served by higher or lower range social protection/social risk management programs tailored to their specific risk profile and needs. The option of funded defined contribution schemes is posed as an alternative to end-of-service pay, which in some countries of destination suffers from compliance and enforcement issues.
This policy note offers motivation as well as game plan how to achieve a coherent and mutually beneficial labor migration system. It argues that migrant workers may importantly contribute to economic ...growth and development both in sending and receiving countries if they find the enabling conditions. To achieve a potential win-win-win situation requires (i) a sustainable migration management system that takes into account the interests of the various stakeholders involved; (ii) a clear identification and articulation of objectives and interests in migration by the key stakeholders based on a common conceptual framework on migration and development: (iii) regional and bilateral coordination mechanisms to balance these not necessarily converging objectives and reach comprise under labor agreements and policies; and (iv) evidence-based effective polices and public and private sector interventions to achieve the objectives that are known and applied at the level of sending, receiving, returning and circulation.
This policy note offers motivation as well as game plan how to achieve a coherent and mutually beneficial labor migration system. It argues that migrant workers may importantly contribute to economic ...growth and development both in sending and receiving countries if they find the enabling conditions. To achieve a potential win-win-win situation requires (i) a sustainable migration management system that takes into account the interests of the various stakeholders involved; (ii) a clear identification and articulation of objectives and interests in migration by the key stakeholders based on a common conceptual framework on migration and development: (iii) regional and bilateral coordination mechanisms to balance these not necessarily converging objectives and reach comprise under labor agreements and policies; and (iv) evidence-based effective polices and public and private sector interventions to achieve the objectives that are known and applied at the level of sending, receiving, returning and circulation.
Increased labor mobility bears large potential benefits for human development and poverty reduction through various channels including more competitive global labor markets and increased efficiency ...in the matching of skills supply and demand. Bank support for enhanced and better managed migration can complement broader efforts to reduce poverty and promote human development, similarly to how Bank projects on trade liberalization have helped in reducing market distortions and raise welfare. With Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries becoming increasingly eager to adopt a proactive approach to improve migration outcomes, cross-sectoral Bank teams are well positioned to respond to increasing demand for migration management systems. Labor mobility has proven to be a forceful driver of convergence in living standards. Estimates suggest that gains from the liberalization of migration could surpass welfare gains from trade liberalization. Currently, migration represents the main form of global and regional integration for MENA countries. In the future, increased labor mobility could foster regional economic integration, a recognized priority within the Arab World Initiative (AWI).
The paper examines severance pay programs around the world by providing the first ever overview of existing programs, examining their historic development, assessing their economic rationale and ...describing current reform attempts. While a significant part of the paper is devoted to a comprehensive 183 cross country review of existing severance arrangements and their characteristics, the paper goes beyond a mere description. It develops and empirically tests three hypotheses about the economic rationale of the program, namely severance pay being: (i) a primitive income protection program, (ii) an efficiency enhancing human resource instrument, and (iii) a job protection instrument. The paper also reviews the recent reforms of Austria, Chile, Italy, and Korea.
The paper examines severance pay programs around the world by providing the first ever overview of existing programs, examining their historic development, assessing their economic rationale and ...describing current reform attempts. While a significant part of the paper is devoted to a comprehensive 183 cross country review of existing severance arrangements and their characteristics, the paper goes beyond a mere description. It develops and empirically tests three hypotheses about the economic rationale of the program, namely severance pay being: (i) a primitive income protection program, (ii) an efficiency enhancing human resource instrument, and (iii) a job protection instrument. The paper also reviews the recent reforms of Austria, Chile, Italy and Korea.
The paper examines severance pay programs around the world by providing the first ever overview of existing programs, examining their historic development, assessing their economic rationale and ...describing current reform attempts. While a significant part of the paper is devoted to a comprehensive 183 cross country review of existing severance arrangements and their characteristics, the paper goes beyond a mere description. It develops and empirically tests three hypotheses about the economic rationale of the program, namely severance pay being: (i) a primitive income protection program, (ii) an efficiency enhancing human resource instrument, and (iii) a job protection instrument. The paper also reviews the recent reforms of Austria, Chile, Italy and Korea.
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