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Picture This: Social Distance and the Mistreatment of Migrant Workers

Author

Listed:
  • Toman Barsbai
  • Vojtech Bartos
  • Victoria Licuanan
  • Andreas Steinmayr
  • Erwin Tiongson
  • Dean Yang

Abstract

International migrant workers are vulnerable to abuses by their employers. We implemented a randomized controlled trial of an intervention to reduce mistreatment of Filipino women working as domestic workers (DWs) by their household employers in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. The intervention -- encouraging DWs to show their employers a photo of their family while providing a small gift when starting employment -- caused DWs to experience less mistreatment, have higher satisfaction with the employer, and be more likely to stay with the employer. DWs' families in the Philippines also come to view international labor migration more positively, while they generally remain unaware of the intervention. An online experiment with potential employers in Hong Kong and the Middle East suggests that a mechanism behind the treatment effect is a reduction in the employer's perceived social distance from the employee.

Suggested Citation

  • Toman Barsbai & Vojtech Bartos & Victoria Licuanan & Andreas Steinmayr & Erwin Tiongson & Dean Yang, 2022. "Picture This: Social Distance and the Mistreatment of Migrant Workers," NBER Working Papers 30804, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30804
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    Cited by:

    1. Dalmazzo, Alberto & Leombruni, Roberto & Razzolini, Tiziano, 2023. "Anticipation Effects of EU Accession on Immigrants' Labour Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 16614, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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