Labour Migration as a Source of Institutional Change: Danish and Australian Construction Sectors Compared
In an article in ILR Review Jens Arnholtz and Chris F. Wright examines the impact of increased labour migration on skill-sourcing practices in countries with distinct national skill formation and industrial relations institutions.
In this article, the authors examine the role of labour immigration as a source of institutional change. They use a “most different systems” comparative case study analysis of the Danish and Australian construction sectors to examine the impact of increased labour migration on skill-sourcing practices in countries with distinct national skill formation and industrial relations institutions. Drawing on 73 interviews with industry stakeholders, the authors find that labour migration has produced liberalising pressures in both Denmark and Australia, albeit in ways that differ from each other. The article contributes to comparative institutional scholarship by illustrating how labour migration can promote or support institutional change in a liberalising direction by disincentivising coordinated skill formation. Findings suggest that while national institutions mediate external pressures, such as labour migration, such pressures may affect the incentive structures that can either maintain or erode national institutions.
Read the full article 'Labour Migration as a Source of Institutional Change: Danish and Australian Construction Sectors Compared' by Jens Arnholtz and Chris F. Wright.