PT Unknown
AU Wang Dr., C
TI Building Transnational Labor Markets: The Case of Taiwan
SE Working Papers on East Asian Studies
PY 2017
VL 116
DI 10.17185/duepublico/48156
LA en
DE Transnational labor markets; institution building; staffing agency; employment regulation; industrial relations; Taiwan; East Asia
AB Taiwan has embedded itself in the global markets and established strong economic relations with
many countries, especially the neighbors in East Asia. However, working in a foreign country, as part
of international economic exchange is still constrained by the regulations and/or socio-cultural barriers
in respective countries. Nonetheless, it is argued that transnational labor markets, which are
primarily constructed by private actors, are emerging in East Asia. Taking up Taiwan as a case, this
study investigates how private actors – temporary help agencies – go ahead of the states and forge
institutions that facilitate labor mobility across national borders in the absence of supra-national institutions,
such as EU or ASEAN Economic Community, where freedom of movement has taken place
or is expected to launch.
Based on interviews with staffing agencies, union activists and government officials, it is found that
staffing agencies serve as a transnational HR management function, as they develop international
networks and provide their clients and workers with services such as visa application and employment
arrangements that accommodate to business, employment and social welfare regulations in
both sending and receiving countries. Moreover, staffing agencies translate and diffuse socio-cultural
meanings between countries by engaging in socio-cultural training for workers as well as their clients
to ensure the success of cross-border labor placements. This research contributes to the understanding
of transnational labor mobility by studying the process of building transnational institutions and
how these institutions make sense to the involved actors.
ER