at Home & Away EXPANDING JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR PACIFIC ISLANDERS THROUGH LABOUR MOBILITY Manjula Luthria | Ron Duncan Richard Brown | Peter Mares | Nic Maclellan with Heather Booth | Guangyu Zhang Maheshwar Rao | Fakavae Taomia | John Connell Eliana Jimenez | Gareth Leeves The World Bank at Home & Away

Size and Geography pose constraints in the Pacific World Bank strategy is two pronged: –Bring jobs to the people –Take people to the jobs Export diversification: but met with import barriers

at Home & Away CHAPTER TWO The Young and the Restless: the challenge of population growth

at Home & Away Excess labour meets excess demand Population growth estimated under revised fertility, mortality, migration rates Employment creation unlikely to keep up with population growth, esp. Melanesia Converse true in neighbouring developed markets

at Home & Away Cents and Sensibility: the economic benefits of remittances CHAPTER THREE

at Home & Away Impact of remittances at household level? Small amounts of money sent, even after migrant away for a long time Usually to parents, siblings, later to build nest egg Even HH w/o migrants receive remittances

at Home & Away Impact of remittances at household level? Reduce poverty Improve income distribution Increase investment in education Some business activity spurred

at Home & Away The great falsehoods…debunked Remittances spent on consumption are wasted Remittances should/can be chanelled into investment “Remittance-dependent” communities Negative impact on labour supply, similar to resource rents

at Home & Away Neighbours: making bilateral worker schemes a win-win CHAPTER FOUR

at Home & Away Pro-poor migration ? Balance in migration badly needed Temporary movements for unskilled, bilaterally negotiated

at Home & Away Can bilateral schemes work? Receivers concerns: Overstaying? Workers rights? Cost burden? Viability? Changing labour market conditions? International issues: WTO compatibility? Senders concerns: country preparation?

at Home & Away Receivers concerns Design schemes with 4 Cs: –Cost sharing –Circular flows –Choice of workers qualifications –Commercial viability (6 months = $5000 savings)

at Home & Away International issues: WTO Fundamental –Migration and WTO don’t mix –MFN and prices-not-quantities will not apply to labour Practical –Service liberalization different from agriculture or manufacturing –Economic Integration schemes will allow bilateral arrangement

at Home & Away Sending Country concerns Workers R’s (recruitment, rights, return) –Capacity to regulate –Ability to design incentives & penalties Financial obligations –Travel costs, taxation –Remittance flows, transaction costs are high

at Home & Away World Bank role 1.Identify policies to assist small remote developing countries in reducing economic vulnerability 2.Develop empirical and analytical tools to understand the scope and potential of labour mobility in the region 3.Elevate labour mobility from domestic immigration policy to an international development issue – undertake policy advocacy on behalf of small countries

at Home & Away 4.Be an ‘honest broker’ in the dialogue on this sensitive topic in a politically neutral manner 5.Facilitate labour mobility through advice and technical assistance to prepare sending country systems to improve the supply chain