"Labor Mobility for Migrants: How Open Should the Door Be?", 13 March 2017

A recent paper co-authored by Wharton business economics and public policy professor Shing-Yi Wang...studied the impacts of a reform in the UAE that made it easier for migrant workers to change employers. The paper is titled, “Monopsony Power in Migrant Labor Markets: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates.” They found that once migrant workers were no longer tied to a particular firm, the companies began paying them more. Firms also had an easier time retaining individual employees, even though there was an overall increase in migrants moving to new companies. Although the overall situation improved for migrants who were currently in the UAE, the policy change also decreased demand for new migrant workers and lowered their earnings. “This research highlights the trade-offs between how open to be towards new immigrants and how to treat them once they’re in the country,” Wang says.