Migrants offer 'few benefits'

Assoc Prof Piriya Pholphirul, who has taught at the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), pointed out that while the economic benefits of immigration were obvious, its contribution to long-term economic development was still doubtful.
According to a paper presented at the IPS World Bank on Labour Mobility last year, a 10-percentage point increase in employing unskilled immigrants is likely to reduce overall labour productivity by about 5 per cent. Firms in industries that are labour intensive, such as textile production, face more pressure on their productivity.
The paper added that employing unskilled migrants might also blunt a firm’s incentives for innovative investment or cut down on the training of workers. Firms employing cheap labourers from abroad can be regarded as adopting a kind of “labour-using technology”, which could slow down productivity and lead to a deterioration of global competitiveness in the long run.
The paper also found a negative relationship between productivity-enhancing activities such as R&D investments and training of workers and employing unskilled immigrants, particularly for firms located in border provinces. A 10-percentage point increase of employing unskilled migrants tends to reduce a firm’s investment in research and development by around 4 per cent and cut down the probability of training by about 3 per cent.
Piriya expressed concerns because the number of immigrants to Thailand from neighbouring countries has been increasing very rapidly over the past decade.
“They are mostly in the working-age group with low-level skills and little education,” Piriya said.