Suresh, Narayanan and Lai, Yew wah
(2014)
Migration and development in Malaysia: The impact of immigrant labour in the manufacting sector, 1986-2010/Suresh Narayanan and Lai Yew-Wah.
In: National Population Conference on the Inter-Relationship Between Population Dynamics and Development, 26 June 2014, Palm Garden Hotel, IOI Resort, Putrajaya.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
The heavy reliance on immigrant labour in manufacturing remains a contentious issue and we address three concerns with respect to their impact: did they displace native workers or complement them? Did their influx impede real wage growth? And did they lower real productivity growth? We found that immigrants complemented local workers in the initial phase when a labour shortage emerged at prevailing wage levels but displaced them in later periods because employers favoured them due to significant non-wage cost savings. Immigrants did impede real wage rate growth although given the strong demand for labour that prevailed, wages did rise. Finally, the contention that immigrant labour use contributed to keeping productivity low found some support. In the light of these findings we discuss policy options with respect to immigrant workers.
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[img]](http://familyrepository.lppkn.gov.my/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
