Pacific seasonal workers: Learning from the contrasting temporary migration outcomes in Australian and New Zealand horticulture

Richard Curtain, Matthew Dornan, Stephen Howes and Henry Sherrell
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Richard Curtain

Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies from Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University

Abstract: “Crowding out†is a widely accepted claim in migration analysis, which posits that the preference of profit†maximising employers for irregular and minimally regulated migrants overregulated alternatives will undermine, if not condemn to failure, well†regulated temporary migration schemes. In this paper, we test the crowding out hypothesis by examining the experience with well†regulated seasonal migrant worker programs in the horticultural sectors of Australia and New Zealand. This experience, which in both countries has involved recruitment of workers from the Pacific Islands, has been divergent, despite the two programs being similar in design. Our findings suggest that the relative attractiveness of regulated and unregulated migrant labour sources depends on a range of factors, including the export orientation of the sector, the costs of collective action and regulation, differences in policy design and implementation, and external factors. Depending on industry and economy†wide characteristics, quality and reputational benefits for employers can offset the cost of regulation.

Keywords: horticulture; labour mobility; Pacific island countries; public policy; seasonal workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2018-10-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig
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Published in Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, September 2018, pages 462-480

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Journal Article: Pacific seasonal workers: Learning from the contrasting temporary migration outcomes in Australian and New Zealand horticulture (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:een:appswp:201834

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