Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

6-2023

Abstract

In framing nations as places that either send or receive migrants, there is a danger in defining migrant-sending nations as monolithic entities driven by a single mandate of exporting labour to a global economy. Using the concept of viscosity, we argue that sending states comprise multiple state agencies with varying interests, which can either impede, slow, or facilitate labour emigration. We demonstrate our argument by examining the Philippines' nurse retention policies against the backdrop of the country's labour export policies. While these retention policies led to an influx of Filipino nurses to rural health centres, these nurses considered such mobility a means to wait out the lack of opportunities for nurses overseas. Thus, inadvertently serving the interests of the Philippines' labour-exporting regime. We argue that a nuanced view of sending states advances our understanding of how migrant-sending nations balance emigration policies with other government interests beyond labour export.

Discipline

Health and Medical Administration | Labor and Employment Law

Research Areas

Sociology

Publication

International Migration

ISSN

0020-7985

Identifier

10.1111/imig.13158

Publisher

Wiley: 12 months

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13158

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