Labor Mobility Research Articles

The end of Mexico–US migration as we knew it – or back to the future?

Over the last decade, scholars have declared the collapse of the Mexico–US system of undocumented migration. The H2 visa programme, a regime of managed sojourning is replacing the system of unauthorized cross-border mobility. In fiscal year 2023, the US government issued nearly 370,000 H2 temporary work visas to Mexicans. This temporary migrant labour programme is also bringing back circulation, temporary legal stays, and mostly male cross-border mobility – features that are akin to the old Bracero Program (1942–64). We contend that the restoration of these legal and sociodemographic dynamics undermines critical pillars of the system of undocumented labour mobility, limiting and reorienting the role of social networks, and potentially ending the way Mexico–United States has functioned for the past half century. We use ethnographic, interview and survey data to analyse the expansion of this new regime of highly mediated cross-border mobility, the ascent of the brokerage apparatus, and its effect transforming the social infrastructure of migration. We ask, specifically, how does the H2 temporary migrant labour programme constrain and diminish kin and hometown-based social networks, previously seen as ‘the engine of migration’? How does the shift from migrant networks to a brokerage apparatus impact trust, reciprocity and the development of migratory social capital? How is the new regime changing the experience of migration – substituting risk and adventure for certainty and routinized movement? How does the H2 temporary migrant labour programme revert the locus of social reproduction of the labour force back to sending communities, preempting integration at the destination? We frame the answers to these questions in the emerging migration industry and infrastructures paradigm, which examines to the role of migrant and non-migrant actors in the facilitation, control and overall mediation and structuring of cross-border mobility.

Research on the Interaction Mechanism between Land System Reform and Rural Population Flow: Europe (Taking Spain as an Example) and China

This paper examines the interaction between land policies and rural labor migration in China and Europe, highlighting how land reforms guide labor mobility and their impacts on land and social structures. In China, the Household Contract Responsibility System and land transfer policies have facilitated agricultural scale expansion and the urbanization of the rural labor force. Homestead reforms have further enhanced farmers’ asset liquidity. In Europe, using Spain as a case study, EU agricultural policies have spurred agricultural modernization, economic diversification, and intensive land use. These advancements benefitted from a mature land transfer market and increased non-agricultural employment opportunities. Both China and Europe face challenges of population aging and rural depopulation, necessitating improvements in land use efficiency, the balance of the scale, and the protection of farmers’ rights and interests. Europe addresses labor shortages through technology, mechanization, and cooperatives, while China employs land trusteeship, transfer platforms, and the “three rights separation” system to combat land abandonment and labor shortages. Future research should strengthen comparative studies between China and Europe, quantify interactive relationships, consider the impact of transnational labor mobility under globalization, explore policy innovations, and foster international cooperation to address demographic changes and agricultural labor shortages. Additionally, promoting sustainable land use and farmers’ rights, equalizing urban–rural public services, enhancing education and training, and improving the social security system are crucial for integrated urban–rural development.

Do former employees of foreign MNEs boost incumbent workers’ wages in domestic firms?

AbstractThis paper examines whether there are wage spillovers from workers with experience in foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) to incumbent workers in domestic firms. Using administrative panel data from Ireland, I examine possible heterogeneity for such spillovers across the wage distribution using quantile regressions. I begin by using existing methodology and find that, once industry-year and region-year dummies are added as control variables, the average wage spillover effect on incumbents from former foreign MNE workers moving to domestic firms disappears. Quantile regression results suggest that there are positive spillovers for incumbent workers in the top 50% of the wage distribution only. This indicates that foreign MNEs increase inequality through spillovers to domestic firms via labour mobility.

Globalization and taxation: Implications on national tax policies and international tax competition

This review examines the profound impact of globalization on national tax policies and the ensuing tax competition among countries. Globalization, characterized by increased economic integration and cross-border capital and labor mobility, has significantly influenced national tax structures and policies. Countries are compelled to adapt their tax systems to remain competitive in attracting and retaining investments, leading to a shift from traditional income taxes to consumption-based taxes and adjustments in corporate tax rates. This competition often results in a "race to the bottom," where countries continuously lower tax rates to outbid each other, thereby affecting government revenues and public service funding. The review explores how globalization erodes traditional tax bases, creating challenges for national policymakers who must balance the need for competitiveness with revenue requirements and equity considerations. Through case studies, the effects of tax competition are analyzed, highlighting the outcomes of various national strategies in attracting global capital. Additionally, the role of international tax treaties and agreements in shaping global taxation dynamics is scrutinized. Treaties aimed at avoiding double taxation and preventing tax evasion, such as those orchestrated by the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative, and EU tax policies, are pivotal in harmonizing tax rules and reducing tax arbitrage opportunities. These agreements foster international cooperation, attempting to create a more stable and fair global tax environment. The interaction between national tax policies and global agreements is complex, involving coordination and occasional conflict. The effectiveness of these international efforts in addressing the challenges posed by globalization is assessed, considering both successes and limitations. Emerging trends, such as the taxation of the digital economy and the increasing involvement of developing countries in global tax discussions, are also explored. The review provides insights into the dynamic interplay between globalization and taxation, offering recommendations for policymakers to navigate the intricate global tax landscape. Future challenges and opportunities are discussed, emphasizing the need for continued international cooperation and adaptive national policies. Keywords: Globalization, National Tax Policies, Tax Competition.

Management policies regarding labor mobility by industry

This research study 341 articles from Web of Science, along with a co-citation analysis to reveal the theoretical underpinnings of research on management policies related to labor mobility across economic sectors and this topic trends in this area cover various aspects, including the impact of labor migration, such as wages, geography, labor market supply and demand in the specific region, property rights, and government policies related to managing labor migration across countries.

European Union Posting of Workers Law and Equal Treatment in Internal Labour Market for Social Cohesion

The main objective of this article was to examine the European Union Posting of Workers Directive as an instrument for the internal labour market to achieve social cohesion. A posted worker is an employee that the employer has sent to a territory of a Member State (other than the State where he/she normally works) to perform his/her tasks during a given period. The latest revision (PWD 2018/957) has allowed the introduction of amendments to the posting of workers legislation, which improved the previous law and reinforced the legal protection of posted workers. Its objective is to reinforce the posting of workers’ policy to eradicate some prejudicious practices detected in applying the previous Directive, such as inequitable work conditions and unfair competition, which are obstacles to social cohesion. This paper analyses the Directive as a key instrument for social cohesion in light of the modifications introduced to improve the Directive (PWD 2018/957). Proposals for improvement of the Directive for social cohesion are formulated in terms of cooperation, availability of information, and inspectorate, which still require more attention and reformulation for better labour mobility of posting of workers in the European Union. Some key practical implications are discussed.

Leave no stone unturned: Exploring the metaproteome of beerstone for the identification of archaeological beer production

In archaeological contexts, identifying processes of beer production and consumption has contributed to our understanding of agriculture, labor mobilization, economic surplus, feasting, gender dynamics, social structure, tribute, community, identity and politics. Nevertheless, in the absence of pictorial representations and characteristic objects, beer brewing is difficult to identify in the archaeological record, and molecular methods are often limited by constraints of preservation and specificity. A potential target for studies of ancient beer production are residues formed during brewing activity, including beerstone, a calcium oxalate residue. Here, we apply shotgun proteomics analyses to a sample of modern beerstone to explore this residue's capacity as a marker for beer in archaeological contexts. The beerstone proteome was compared to the protein profiles of ungerminated and germinated barley to identify key proteins indicative of malted grains which may be encased by the residue. Proteins matching to barley grain (Hordeum vulgare) and Baker's/Brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were successfully identified in the beerstone. In particular, we identified hordeins, lipid transfer proteins, trypsin/α-amylase inhibitors, and protein Z, which are barley proteins abundant in proteomic characterisations of beer. In comparison to ungerminated and germinated barley grains, we find that beerstone preserves only a subset of the barley proteome, with the residue being more reflective of the final brewing product than of earlier brewing steps such as malting. Overall, we demonstrate that beerstone has potential to entrap and preserve proteins reflective of the beer-making process and identify proteins that we might anticipate in future archaeological analyses.

A tale of two platforms: Habitus as the structuring force of gig workers' experience

AbstractThis article applies Bourdieu's theory of fields and habitus to the platform economy, specifically through an analysis of interviews conducted with 27 Amazon Flex delivery drivers. Utilising interview data, it investigates how workers' habitus, informed by their social background, shapes their perceptions of the platform economy. The study extends current scholarship by theoretically enriching discussions on platform work dynamics. A key finding reveals distinct perspectives between workers with middle‐class and working‐class habitus. Middle‐class habitus frames the platform economy as a casual gig for quick income, while working‐class habitus perceives it as a genuine job with expectations of stability. These divergent viewpoints have significant implications, notably in relation to unionisation endeavours by platform workers. This research underscores how habitus‐driven perspectives influence engagement with the platform economy and its potential for labour mobilisation.

The effect of labor mobility on corporate investment and performance over the business cycle

We show that time-series variation in investment opportunities and labor demand create heterogeneity in the effects of labor mobility on corporate investment over the business cycle. To isolate variation in labor mobility, we create an annual state-level index from 1984 through 2017 that captures the degree to which state courts enforce covenants not to compete. We find that firms located in more mobile labor markets increase investment rates more during economic expansions but have similar investment rates during periods of low or negative growth. This increased investment during expansions is greater for firms that rely more on recruiting skilled and experienced workers to grow their businesses, and it translates into higher sales growth rates, profits, and valuations. Overall, our results suggest that the benefits of being able to recruit qualified workers with relevant experience during expansions outweigh the costs associated with losing key workers.

Economic crisis, urban structural change and inter-sectoral labour mobility

Are recessions drivers of structural change? Here we investigate employment dynamics in the UK and show that a re-allocation of labour between industrial sectors in times of crisis induces an acceleration in structural change. Our key hypothesis is that cities with industrial baskets that exhibit strong potential for inter-industry labour mobility are more resilient as they can shift workers between sectors resulting in employment growth in some sectors — which in turn induces structural change during an economic crisis. Probing this hypothesis, we find that UK cities experienced a sharp increase in the rate of structural change at the city level around 2009 which coincided with an increase in inter-sectoral job transitions during the recession (2008–11) which persisted for years afterwards. To shed light on this, we deploy an econometric model to show that local employment in skill-related sectors, which captures the potential for inter-industry labour mobility, is most strongly associated with city-industry employment growth during the recession period.

The impacts of technological progress and industrial structure distortion on water use intensity in China

Based on the employment and output data of China's three industries, this paper measures the industrial structure distortion index of each province in China from 2000 to 2020, and uses a spatial panel model to examine the impact of industrial structure distortion on water intensity. The results show that China's industrial structure distortion index decreases from 0.4046 in 2000 to 0.2042 in 2020, and the industrial structure distortion index is 0.1247 in the east, 0.2139 in the center, and 0.2767 in the west. The regression of the Spatial Durbin Model shows that the indirect effect and total effect of industrial structure distortion both significantly increase the water use intensity, and the influence coefficients are 0.1712 and 0.1822, respectively. For other variables, water resource endowment significantly increases water intensity in the region, with an effect coefficient of 0.0100, and its indirect and total effects are both significantly negative, at −0.0465 and −0.0366, respectively. Foreign trade significantly inhibits water intensity in the region, with a degree of inhibition of −0.0164, and its indirect and total effects are not significant; and increasing Foreign Direct Investment increases water intensity in other regions and in general. The coefficients are 1.3170 and 1.2477, respectively; research and development input has no significant effect on water intensity. Therefore, China should eliminate distortions in its industrial structure, break the urban-rural dichotomy in labor mobility, improve the efficiency of the application of innovative technologies, and enhance the awareness of water crisis and water conservation and protection of the whole society.

A third indeterminacy of labour power: Worker health investment and the indeterminacy of labour health

AbstractThis article identifies the health of the worker as a third source of labour power indeterminacy to be added to the indeterminacy of labour effort and the indeterminacy of labour mobility. The paper clearly differentiates worker health from effort as a distinct source of labour power indeterminacy—something that cannot be guaranteed and that varies for an individual over time. It considers the relationship between worker health as a new source of indeterminacy and the two extant sources of labour power indeterminacy, focussing on the way in which health moderates the relationship between effort and output. The paper also considers the way in which worker health investment moderates the indeterminacy of labour effort and labour mobility, independently of its impact on the health of the worker. The paper documents the potential value of worker health investment to the organisation and also considers the boundary conditions for investment in worker health.

Analysis of the Heterogeneous Coordination between Urban Development Levels and the Ecological Environment in the Chinese Grassland Region (2000–2020): A Case Study of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Scientifically identifying the impact of urban development levels on the ecological environment in China’s grassland regions from a classification perspective is crucial for stabilizing grassland ecosystems and optimizing urban development in grassland cities. Using the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as a case study, this research constructs a conceptual analysis framework for the coordinated state between the urban development level and the ecological environment in China’s grassland regions based on the theory of dual economic structures. Employing the Granger causality test, nonlinear fitting, and coupling coordination degree model methods, the heterogeneity and coordination between urban development levels and ecological environment in China’s grassland areas from 2000 to 2020 are comprehensively analyzed. The findings reveal the following: (1) Capital-type central cities and growing resource-based cities, with high levels of development, positively nurture the grassland ecology, exhibit high labor mobility, and experience low endogenous and exogenous pressures, resulting in high coordination. (2) Pure agro-pastoral cities, with low development levels, negatively impact the grassland ecology, have low labor mobility, and face high endogenous and exogenous pressures, resulting in low coordination. (3) Regional central cities, with moderate development levels, exert a neutral counterbalance effect on the grassland ecology, with opposing endogenous and exogenous pressures, leading to moderate coordination. (4) When the impact relationship ranges from “positive-neutral-negative,” the endogenous and exogenous pressures on the grassland ecology by declining resource-based cities and developing agro-pastoral cities are determined by their specific development levels, showing variations from “large → balance → small” to “small → balance → large,” with coordination fluctuating between “high-moderate-low”. (5) Special ecological cities are less affected by urban development levels, with coordination levels determined by the ecological foundation. Analyzing the heterogeneous coordination between urban development levels and the ecological environment for different types of cities in grassland regions is significant for improving the overall quality of the grassland ecological environment and exploring distinctive urban development models.

Digital technology access, labor market behavior, and income inequality in rural China

This study uses China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data from 2010 to 2018 to empirically investigate the interplay between digital technology access, labor market behavior, and income inequality in rural China. The following salient conclusions are derived. Digital technology access has a substantial negative influence on individual income inequality in rural China, with a more pronounced inhibitory effect on inequality among low-income groups, males, middle and higher professional classes, and younger cohorts. Mechanism analysis suggests that digital technology access significantly impacts a range of rural labor practices, including increasing the frequency of digital technology use among rural inhabitants, decreasing credit costs, enhancing entrepreneurial activities, and boosting rural labor mobility. Based on these findings, this study proposes accelerating digital infrastructure development in rural regions, improving digital and financial literacy among rural residents, and refining inclusive digital financial services to facilitate more stable and sustainable progress to promote common prosperity.

Coloniality, Race, and Europeanness: Britain’s Borders after Brexit

Abstract The scholarship on the politics of immigration often frames governments’ responses to far-right mobilization as a return to border closures and a rowing back on neoliberalism. In this article, I draw on and expand the scholarship on coloniality to address the limitations of this diagnosis. Specifically, I explore the role of political mobilization in the making of the post-Brexit border regime. My research draws on the analysis of legal and policy initiatives between 2020 and 2023 and twenty-three research interviews with individuals who express their opposition to immigration via engagement in think tanks, grassroots organizations and vigilante groups. The interview data indicates multiple connections between these milieus and shows that each engages in action repertoires beyond the nation-state. And while this prompts border closures, the post-Brexit border regime also encodes openings and loopholes for the circulation of financial elites and precariously employed workers. Thus, I argue that state and non-state actors co-produce a neoliberal border regime of stratified rights, partial inclusions, and gradual exclusions. These variegated entitlements draw on and reinvigorate the racial order of coloniality. The post-Brexit immigration regime enables the free mobility of those racialized as “West European,” facilitates disposable labor mobility of those racialized as “Eastern European,” and restricts the movement of those racialized as “non-European.” This racial imaginary does not only operate via binary distinctions of (non)-Britishness but puts people in complex hierarchical relations to “Europeanness.”

Review of approaches to determining the essence of labor mobility

Review of approaches to determining the essence of labor mobility

Labor Mobility and Wage Dynamics: Understanding the Interplay of Factors in Modern Labor Economics

Labor Mobility and Wage Dynamics: Understanding the Interplay of Factors in Modern Labor Economics

Book Review: Migration as Economic Imperialism: How International Labour Mobility Undermines Economic Development in Poor Countries by Immanuel Ness

Book Review: <i>Migration as Economic Imperialism: How International Labour Mobility Undermines Economic Development in Poor Countries</i> by Immanuel Ness

The impact of smart city construction on labour distortions from the perspective of labour mobility: evidence from China

ABSTRACT Migration decisions and labour demand are influenced by smart city construction (SCC). However, the impacts of SCC on the labour market remain black-boxed. This paper investigates the impacts of SCC on labour market distortions through an examination of a large-scale smart city pilot policy in China. Utilising urban panel data in China spanning 2008-2019, we employ a multi-period difference-in-difference model to examine the labour factor allocation effects of SCC. Our findings reveal that SCC effectively mitigates labour wage distortion (LWD) but has an adverse effect on labour misallocation (LMA). labour mobility is a critical mechanism through which SCC alleviates labour wage distortion (LWD) but exacerbates labour misallocation (LMA). Furthermore, the results of heterogeneity analysis indicate that strongly connected and high human capital cities not only benefit from SCC in alleviating LWD but also avoid its negative effects on LMA. Conversely, SCC neither improves LWD nor alleviates LMA in weakly connected and low human capital cities. These findings imply that urban smart construction causes multiple impacts on the labour factor market, which is conducive to factor market guidance policies that can coordinate with SCC.

Effective enforcement of the EU framework on the posting of workers: Empirical evidence

This article addresses the issue of effective enforcement of EU labour law by looking at the case study of the enforcement of the EU framework on the posting of workers. While recent years have seen a revival of Social Europe in the form of the European Pillar of Social Rights, scholars have also expressed concern over the effectiveness in practice of transnational labour law, and EU labour law in particular. Rasnača (2022) argues that ineffective enforcement creates a ‘justice gap’ between formal rights on paper and access to these rights in practice. One example of an area of EU labour law plagued by enforcement issues is the posting of workers. It is a peculiar type of intra-EU labour mobility, where posted workers, despite often being EU citizens, cannot benefit from the protection afforded by the EU's fundamental principle of the free movement of workers. As the original Directive 96/71/EC on the posting of workers proved manifestly inadequate to safeguard the rights of posted workers, the EU enacted Directive 2014/67 to improve the framework's enforcement. This article offers an evaluation of the Enforcement Directive based on data collected from 29 qualitative interviews. The effectiveness of the Enforcement Directive will be assessed based on the theoretical framework of precarious work. It will be argued that while the Enforcement Directive has contributed to narrowing the justice gap, posted workers continue to be exposed to precarity.