Liberalising labour mobility under the GATS / L. Alan Winters ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Government document

Contributor:

Winters, L. Alan.

Series:

Economic paper (Commonwealth Secretariat) ; 53.

Economic paper / Commonwealth Secretariat ; 53

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

General Agreement on Trade in Services (1994 April 15).

General Agreement on Trade in Services.

Labor mobility.

Physical Description:

vii, 67 pages ; 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : Commonwealth Secretariat, [2002]

Summary:

This publication is an analysis of negotiations concerning the temporary movement of workers from developing to developed economies, taking place under the auspices of the GATS negotiations which cover the trade in commercial services. It focuses on the temporary movement of unskilled and semi-skilled workers and considers the benefits of easing the restrictions on the temporary movement of labour. The main theme underlying the paper is the mutual benefit to both developed and developing countries in permitting a temporary movement of workers in these categories. In the next 20 years developed economies will experience an increasing shortage of labour at the lower end of the labour market due to an ageing population and a more educated workforce. The paper constructs a model to analyse the effects of easing the restrictions and its impact on the labour market in developed countries and details some proposals which developing countries should use in the Service Negotiations. This paper is particularly useful for policy-makers (in both developed and developing countries) who are involved in formulating policy for the employment and immigration fields. It is also of interest to students and academics.

Contents:

2 Why Labour Mobility Matters 5

2.1 Trade 5

2.2 Factor Mobility 6

3 Some New Estimates of the Gains from Temporary Movement 13

3.1 The Model 13

3.2 The Data and Experiments 16

3.3 Results 18

3.4 Sensitivity Analysis 23

4 What the GATS Says - and Doesn't Say 26

4.1 Service Supply vs. Employment 26

4.2 The Connection between Mode 4 and Other Modes of Supply 29

4.3 Transparency and Recognition 29

4.4 The Terminology of Schedules 30

4.5 Financial Services 31

4.6 A Summary of the Schedules 32

5 Current Policies and Proposals on Temporary Movement 33

5.1 Accession Negotiations 33

5.2 Negotiating Proposals, 1999-2001 35

5.3 Current Schemes for Temporary Movement 39

6 Ways Forward on Less Skilled Workers 47

6.1 Employment vs. Service Provision 48

6.2 Subcontracting Schemes 51

6.4 Procedural Issues 58.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0850927455

OCLC:

52064779