International contract labour migration : the experience of returned Vietnamese migrants from Taiwan

Author: Nguyen Quynh Phuong

AIT Library Call Number: AIT Diss. no.RD-19-03

Year: 2019

Academic Program: Regional and Rural Development Planning (RRDP)

Type: Thesis (Ph. D.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2019

Examination Committee: Mokbul Morshed Ahmad (Chairperson); Vilas Nitivattananon, Yuosre Badir (Examination Committee Members)

Abstract: International contract labour migration (ICLM) research in the context of Asia has paid relatively less attention to Vietnam as a relatively new entrant into the list of labour exporting countries in Asia. This dissertation is an attempt to enhance our understanding of migration as a phenomenon, by focusing on one specific type of migration, i.e. ICLM specifically from Vietnam to Taiwan. The introductory chapter sets the stage, with a discussion of the economic and social context that explains Vietnam’s labour export programme and the Vietnam-Taiwan migration corridor. Extensive data was collected through interviews and documents, such as salary slips, recruitment brochures and employment contracts provided by the return migrants. These return migrants had worked as domestic workers or factory workers for varying lengths of time in Taiwan and returned home to settle in Phu Tho, one of the top five migrant sending provinces in Vietnam. The data collected included various decrees and regulations related to the policies and procedures underlying ICLM from Vietnam. The aim of this data collection was broadly to understand the nature of the migration experience. Patterns identified in the data were analysed using appropriate theoretical lenses. A recurrent theme in the data was the exploitation of the migrants by the brokers. The analysis of the data has revealed that the brokers engage in at least four different types of exploitation. Williamson’s analysis of contracts was used as the theoretical frame to identify asymmetry in the information and contract negotiation abilities between the brokers and the migrants as important reasons for the persistence of such exploitative practices. Female migrants were found to migrate for a shorter duration compared to their counterparts from other countries, such as the Philippines. Using Gidden’s and O’Reilly’s theoretical exposition of agency and structure it was found that some elements of the external structures are supportive, while others inhibited

Scholarship Donor(s): Government of Japan

Note: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Regional and Rural Development Planning, School of Environment, Resources and Development

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Search keywords index: Nguyen Quynh Phuong International contract labour migration : the experience of returned Vietnamese migrants from Taiwan Regional and Rural Development Planning (RRDP) Emigration and immigration — Taiwan;”Contract labor — Taiwan”;”Migrant labor — Taiwan”;