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Does “buyer beware” work in migration? Contracting between brokers and migrants in Vietnam
Author(s) -
Phuong Nguyen Quynh,
Venkatesh Sundar
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international migration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.681
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1468-2435
pISSN - 0020-7985
DOI - 10.1111/imig.12252
Subject(s) - expropriation , database transaction , business , transactional leadership , work (physics) , transaction cost , labour economics , market economy , economics , finance , political science , public relations , mechanical engineering , computer science , engineering , programming language
This article is an attempt to open the lid a little of the “black box of migration” i.e. brokers. Analysing contracts between brokers and labour migrants, we identify four different forms of exploitation of migrants by brokers: expropriation of skill premium, risk shifting, over‐charging, and non‐refund of deposits. Opportunistic behaviour by brokers, as evidenced by such exploitation, is seen as a market failure that is explained by human attributes and transactional characteristics. Given the rigidities in the human attributes of the contracting parties and the nature of migration as a risky multi‐period transaction, proposals are made for non‐market interventions, which can lead to more equitable contracting.