Economic impact of skilled labor mobility within the ASEAN Economic Community

This chapter investigates the potential impacts on ASEAN member economies of skilled labor mobility under the ASEAN Economic Community’s (AEC) Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs). The MRAs allow ASEAN member countries to recognize each other’s professional licensing or conformity assessments, thereby facilitating intra-ASEAN skilled labor mobility. As far as we are aware, no prior study has analyzed how the MRAs might impact each ASEAN economy. We fill this research gap and contribute to policy research by using an economy-wide framework that accounts for global bilateral migration and remittance flows to quantify the potential economic effects of intra-ASEAN skilled labor mobility. Our results suggest that GDP expands for ASEAN-member countries as skilled labor mobility not only addresses the shortages and surpluses of skilled labor within the region, but also spurs consumption, due to higher remittances sent by migrant workers.