Determinants of Wage Differentials Among In-Migrant Workers: Insights from a Primary Study Conducted in Kozhikode District, Kerala, India

Mohamed Saalim () and Sobin George ()
Additional contact information
Mohamed Saalim: Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC)
Sobin George: Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC)

The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 2021, vol. 64, issue 4, No 8, 997 pages

Abstract: Abstract The state of Kerala attracts a large number of in-migrant workers from different parts of India, and available estimates show that there were more than 25 lakh in-migrant workers in Kerala. While higher wage rate in Kerala is regarded as a major pull factor of migration, it is not clear whether in-migrants in Kerala receive wages at par with the natives or above the minimum wages stipulated by the state government for various sectors. Also, there is little evidence available on the wage differentials among the in-migrant workers. Drawing on a primary study conducted at various sites of Kozhikode district in Kerala, this paper attempts to address these questions. The paper illustrates that wage differentials exist at two levels. First is the wage differential between natives and in-migrants irrespective of their skill levels. Second is the wage differential that exists between migrant workers from West Bengal and other states. Further, it shows that the wage differentials among in-migrants workers can be attributed to discrimination that face by being not sufficiently integrated to the Kerala society. The results shed light on the need for state interventions to level the wages of migrants and natives on the one hand design programs for the integration of guest workers who still live on the margins of Kerala society on the other.

Keywords: Labor; Migration; Occupation; Wage differential; Discrimination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41027-021-00349-3 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:64:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s41027-021-00349-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/41027

DOI: 10.1007/s41027-021-00349-3

Access Statistics for this article

The Indian Journal of Labour Economics is currently edited by Alakh Sharma

More articles in The Indian Journal of Labour Economics from Springer, The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().