Dual labor market theory frames migration as demand-driven by employers

Evidence

Dual labor market theory focuses on structural demand for low-skilled labor in developed economies. Labor markets become segmented, with local workers in highly developed economies gaining the education and skills needed for qualified jobs, and being unwilling to do unrewarding, monotonous, and poorly paid work. The result is recruitment of unskilled immigrant workers by employers and governments. This intensifies labor market segmentation, since ethnicity, race, national origins, and gender are used as labels to assign workers to certain jobs. Migration is seen as “demand-driven” by powerful groups in the receiving countries, rather than “supply-driven” by the income-maximizing behavior of migrants (Piore, 1980). — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3832 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Primary and secondary labor markets differ in wages, stability, and credential value — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 672; Immigration and the cash nexus created America’s wage-labor force — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 613; Employers select immigrant workers for assumed docility and vulnerability. (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Immigration is driven by employer demand for low-wage labor, not migrant choice #expands (0.92) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3832