Let Workers Move

Unlike the movement of capital, the movement of labor across countries remains highly restricted?despite the huge global returns to international labor mobility. If the benefits of temporary labor mobility are so great, why is there not more movement? Progress appears to have been stymied not by the forum of negotiations but by the political sensitivity associated with even temporary labor mobility. To circumvent this problem, the use of bilateral labor agreements, which are generally not part of trade agreements, has been proposed as an alternative means of increasing temporary labor mobility. This book analyses the viability and performance of these agreements as a complement to other efforts to liberalize the temporary movement of people. It is based on the experiences of sending and receiving countries in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific....