IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/iza/izawol/journl2021n484.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do guest worker programs give firms too much power?

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Norlander

    (Loyola University Chicago, USA)

Abstract

Guest worker programs allow migrants to work abroad legally, and offer benefits to workers, firms, and nations. Guest workers are typically authorized to work only in specific labor markets, and are sponsored by, and must work for, a specific firm, making it difficult for guest workers to switch employers. Critics argue that the programs harm host country citizens and permanent residents (“existing workers”), and allow employers to exploit and abuse vulnerable foreign-born workers. Labor market institutions, competitive pressures, and firm strategy contribute to the effects of migration that occur through guest worker programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Norlander, 2021. "Do guest worker programs give firms too much power?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 484-484, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:2021:n:484
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/484/pdfs/do-guest-worker-programs-give-firms-too-much-power.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://wol.iza.org/articles/do-guest-worker-programs-give-firms-too-much-power
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2015. "Skilled Immigration and the Employment Structures of US Firms," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 147-186.
    2. Michael Amior & Alan Manning, 2020. "Monopsony and the wage effects of migration," CEP Discussion Papers dp1690, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Briggs Depew & Peter Norlander & Todd A. Sørensen, 2017. "Inter-firm mobility and return migration patterns of skilled guest workers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 681-721, April.
    4. Britta Glennon, 2020. "How Do Restrictions on High-Skilled Immigration Affect Offshoring? Evidence from the H-1B Program," NBER Working Papers 27538, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Kirk Doran & Alexander Gelber & Adam Isen, 2022. "The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration Policy on Firms: Evidence from Visa Lotteries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(10), pages 2501-2533.
    6. Suresh Naidu & Yaw Nyarko & Shing-Yi Wang, 2016. "Monopsony Power in Migrant Labor Markets: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(6), pages 1735-1792.
    7. Jennifer Hunt, 2011. "Which Immigrants Are Most Innovative and Entrepreneurial? Distinctions by Entry Visa," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(3), pages 417-457.
    8. Giovanni Peri & Kevin Shih & Chad Sparber, 2016. "STEM Workers, H-1B Visas, and Productivity in US Cities," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Economics of International Migration, chapter 9, pages 277-307, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Sharma, Rishi & Sparber, Chad, 2020. "Buying Lottery Tickets for Foreign Workers: Search Cost Externalities Induced by H-1B Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 13892, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Gibbons, Eric M. & Greenman, Allie & Norlander, Peter & Sorensen, Todd A., 2019. "Monopsony Power and Guest Worker Programs," IZA Discussion Papers 12096, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Michael A. Clemens, 2018. "Testing for Repugnance in Economic Transactions: Evidence from Guest Work in the Gulf," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(S1), pages 5-44.
    12. Anna Maria Mayda & Francesc Ortega & Giovanni Peri & Kevin Shih & Chad Sparber, 2023. "Coping with H-1B Shortages: Firm Performance and Mitigation Strategies," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(5), pages 919-943, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alan Manning, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Review," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 3-26, January.
    2. Chad Sparber, 2018. "Choosing Skilled Foreign†Born Workers: Evaluating Alternative Methods for Allocating H†1B Work Permits," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 3-34, January.
    3. Sharma, Rishi & Sparber, Chad, 2020. "Buying Lottery Tickets for Foreign Workers: Search Cost Externalities Induced by H-1B Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 13892, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Morgan Raux, 2019. "Looking for the "Best and Brightest": Hiring difficulties and high-skilled foreign workers," Working Papers halshs-02364921, HAL.
    5. Prithwiraj Choudhury & Kirk Doran & Astrid Marinoni & Chungeun Yoon, 2022. "Loss of Peers and Individual Worker Performance: Evidence from H-1B Visa Denials," CESifo Working Paper Series 10152, CESifo.
    6. Mehra, Mishita & Kim, Daisoon, 2023. "Skilled immigration, offshoring, and trade," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    7. Sharma, Rishi R. & Sparber, Chad, 2024. "Buying lottery tickets for foreign workers: Lost quota rents induced by H-1B policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Ahrens, Achim & Beerli, Andreas & Hangartner, Dominik & Kurer, Selina & Siegenthaler, Michael, 2023. "The Labor Market Effects of Restricting Refugees' Employment Opportunities," IZA Discussion Papers 15901, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Silliman, Mikko & Willén, Alexander, 2024. "Worker Power, Immigrant Sorting, and Firm Dynamics," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 13/2024, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    10. Cristelli, Gabriele & Lissoni, Francesco, 2020. "Free movement of inventors: open-border policy and innovation in Switzerland," MPRA Paper 107433, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Lin, Gary C., 2019. "High-skilled immigration and native task specialization in U.S. cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 289-305.
    12. Murat Demirci, 2020. "International students and labour market outcomes of US‐born workers," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1495-1522, November.
    13. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2015. "Skilled Immigration and the Employment Structures of US Firms," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 147-186.
    14. William R. Kerr, 2020. "The Gift of Global Talent: Innovation Policy and the Economy," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-37.
    15. Matthias Parey & Jens Ruhose & Fabian Waldinger & Nicolai Netz, 2017. "The Selection of High-Skilled Emigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(5), pages 776-792, December.
    16. Pekkala Kerr, Sari & Kerr, William, 2020. "Immigrant entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the survey of business owners 2007 & 2012," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    17. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William Kerr & Çağlar Özden & Christopher Parsons, 2016. "Global Talent Flows," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 83-106, Fall.
    18. Anna Maria Mayda & Francesc Ortega & Giovanni Peri & Kevin Shih & Chad Sparber, 2018. "New Data and Facts on H-1B Workers across Firms," NBER Chapters, in: The Roles of Immigrants and Foreign Students in US Science, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, pages 99-121, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William Kerr & Çağlar Özden & Christopher Parsons, 2017. "High-Skilled Migration and Agglomeration," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 201-234, September.
    20. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2017_002 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. William R. Kerr, 2013. "U.S. High-Skilled Immigration, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: Empirical Approaches and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 19377, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    guest workers; migration; firms; monopsony; mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:2021:n:484. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.