IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v153y2018i3d10.1007_s10551-016-3351-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Migration Intermediaries and Codes of Conduct: Temporary Migrant Workers in Australian Horticulture

Author

Listed:
  • Elsa Underhill

    (Deakin University)

  • Dimitria Groutsis

    (University of Sydney)

  • Diane Broek

    (University of Sydney)

  • Malcolm Rimmer

    (La Trobe University)

Abstract

Over recent decades, developments in network governance have seen governments around the world cede considerable authority and responsibility to commercial migration intermediaries for recruiting and managing temporary migrant labour. Correspondingly, a by-product of network governance has been the emergence of soft employment regulation in which voluntary codes of conduct supplement hard (enforceable) legal employment standards. This paper explores these developments in the context of temporary migrant workers employed in Australian horticulture. First the paper analyses the growing use of temporary migrant labour in this industry. It then describes how different types of intermediaries interact with this workforce. The paper then outlines both hard and soft employment regulations, and contrasts them with actual employment conditions, questioning how a network governance approach has affected this vulnerable workforce. The paper concludes that changes in network governance of migration and employment relations have emasculated formal legal regulation, leaving market forces to operate without effective or ethical constraints at the expense of the public good.

Suggested Citation

  • Elsa Underhill & Dimitria Groutsis & Diane Broek & Malcolm Rimmer, 2018. "Migration Intermediaries and Codes of Conduct: Temporary Migrant Workers in Australian Horticulture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 675-689, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:153:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3351-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3351-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-016-3351-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-016-3351-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marks, Edward, 1957. "Internationally Assisted Migration: ICEM Rounds Out Five Years of Resettlement," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 481-494, July.
    2. Dovelyn Agunias, 2009. "Guiding the Invisible Hand: Making Migration Intermediaries Work for Development," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2009-22, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), revised Apr 2009.
    3. Paul Edwards & Monder Ram, 2006. "Surviving on the Margins of the Economy: Working Relationships in Small, Low‐Wage Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 895-916, June.
    4. Stephanie Ware Barrientos, 2013. "'Labour Chains': Analysing the Role of Labour Contractors in Global Production Networks," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1058-1071, August.
    5. Chris Forde & Robert MacKenzie, 2010. "The Ethical Agendas of Employment Agencies Towards Migrant Workers in the UK: Deciphering the Codes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 31-41, December.
    6. Niklas Egels-Zandén & Jeroen Merk, 2014. "Private Regulation and Trade Union Rights: Why Codes of Conduct Have Limited Impact on Trade Union Rights," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 461-473, September.
    7. Bina Fernandez, 2013. "Traffickers, Brokers, Employment Agents, and Social Networks: The Regulation of Intermediaries in the Migration of Ethiopian Domestic Workers to the Middle East," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 814-843, December.
    8. Martin Ruhs, 2013. "The Price of Rights: Regulating International Labor Migration," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10140.
    9. Linda McDowell & Adina Batnitzky & Sarah Dyer, 2008. "Internationalization and the Spaces of Temporary Labour: The Global Assembly of a Local Workforce," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 750-770, December.
    10. Adriana Kemp & Rebeca Raijman, 2014. "Bringing in State Regulations, Private Brokers, and Local Employers: A Meso-Level Analysis of Labor Trafficking in Israel," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 604-642, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kristian Alm & David S. A. Guttormsen, 2023. "Enabling the Voices of Marginalized Groups of People in Theoretical Business Ethics Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 303-320, January.
    2. Irina Y. Yu & Morgan X. Yang & Haksin Chan & Bradley R. Barnes, 2022. "Promoting sustainable human resource management by reducing recruitment discrimination: A cross‐cultural perspective," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 503-512, August.
    3. Dong Hoang, 2019. "Labour Standards in the Global Supply Chain: Workers’ Agency and Reciprocal Exchange Perspective," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-25, May.
    4. Dimitria Groutsis & Annika Kaabel & Chris F Wright, 2024. "Temporary Migrants as Dehumanised ‘Other’ in the Time of COVID-19: We’re All in This Together?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(3), pages 615-635, June.

    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. Fabiola MIERES & Siobhán MCGRATH, 2021. "Ripe to be heard: Worker voice in the Fair Food Program," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(4), pages 631-647, December.
    2. Rebeca Raijman & Nonna Kushnirovich & Yahel Kurlander, 2024. "Between Marketization and Demarketization: Reconfiguration of the Migration Industry in the Agricultural Sector in Israel," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(2), pages 1-24, April.
    3. repec:ilo:ilowps:487848 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Catherine Casey & Helen Delaney & Antje Fiedler, 2021. "Recalling the moral dimension: Transnational labour interests and corporate social responsibilities," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 389-405, September.
    5. Dorte Sindbjerg Martinsen & Gabriel Pons Rotger, 2017. "The fiscal impact of EU immigration on the tax-financed welfare state: Testing the ‘welfare burden’ thesis," European Union Politics, , vol. 18(4), pages 620-639, December.
    6. Chloe Tarrabain & Robyn Thomas, 2024. "The Dynamics of Control of Migrant Agency Workers: Over-Recruitment, ‘The Bitchlist’ and the Enterprising-Self," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 27-43, February.
    7. David, Blight, 2020. "Trends of International Migration since Post-World War II," MPRA Paper 106307, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    8. Matias Ramirez & Ian Clarke & Laurens Klerkx, 2018. "Analysing intermediary organisations and their influence on upgrading in emerging agricultural clusters," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(6), pages 1314-1335, September.
    9. Adamson, Fiona, 2019. "The Migration State in the Global South: Nationalizing, Developmental, and Neoliberal Models of Migration Management," SocArXiv wze2p, Center for Open Science.
    10. Sarosh Kuruvilla & Chunyun Li, 2021. "Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in Global Supply Chains: A Research Agenda," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 43-57, April.
    11. Guillaume Delalieux & Arno Kourula & Eric Pezet, 2024. "Civil Society Roles in CSR Legislation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(2), pages 347-370, March.
    12. Alexander Reilly, 2015. "Low-cost labour or cultural exchange? Reforming the Working Holiday visa programme," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(3), pages 474-489, September.
    13. Venkatesh, V.G. & Zhang, Abraham & Deakins, Eric & Mani, Venkatesh, 2021. "Antecedents of social sustainability noncompliance in the Indian apparel sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    14. David McKenzie & Dean Yang, 2015. "Evidence on Policies to Increase the Development Impacts of International Migration," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 155-192.
    15. 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.
    16. David McKenzie, 2014. "The tyranny of experts: economists, dictators, and the forgotten rights of the poor, by William Easterly," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 211-214, June.
    17. Lakshmi Parvathy & Rajalaxmi Kamath, 2024. "Labour Contractors (Thekedaars) to Human Resource Companies: Labour Market Intermediaries in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(1), pages 197-219, March.
    18. Dina Bishara, 2023. "Introduction to a Special Issue on Labor in the Middle East and North Africa: Precarity, Inequality, and Migration," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 627-645, August.
    19. Bożena, Chrząstowska, 2018. "The Effectiveness of Migration Policies," MPRA Paper 106128, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    20. Philip Martin, 2014. "The Global Economic Crisis and the Future of Migration by Bimal Ghosh , Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan , 2013 , xvii + 338 pp," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 52(2), pages 202-205, June.
    21. Suresh Naidu & Yaw Nyarko & Shing-Yi Wang, 2014. "Worker Mobility in a Global Labor Market: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates," NBER Working Papers 20388, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:153:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3351-z. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.