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Do employers in Myanmar prefer workers who accumulated skills in more advanced countries? Evidence from a field experiment

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  • Saw Htay Wah

    (University of Southern California)

Abstract

I conducted an audit study in Yangon, Myanmar, to examine the effects of foreign labor market experience on employment outcomes in the Myanmar labor market focusing on three skilled occupation groups—software developer, accountant, and engineer—which combined account for more than 80% of all professional and technical job openings. I find heterogeneous effects by employer type (local, foreigner), occupation (software developer, accountant, engineer), and foreign country where such experience was accumulated (Singapore, Malaysia). In particular, I find a large and significant effect for software developers who accumulated experience in Singapore and no significant effect for the same experience accumulated in Malaysia; the Singapore effect is mainly due to foreign employers operating in Myanmar. In contrast, I find no significant effects of foreign experience for accountants and engineers. This is true for both the Singapore and Malaysia experiences, as well as for local and foreign employers. JEL Classification: O15, J01, F22

Suggested Citation

  • Saw Htay Wah, 2018. "Do employers in Myanmar prefer workers who accumulated skills in more advanced countries? Evidence from a field experiment," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izamig:v:8:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s40176-017-0106-2
    DOI: 10.1186/s40176-017-0106-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Return migration; Burma;

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration

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