The Price of Rights

Regulating International Labor Migration

Martin Ruhs

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780691166001, 9780691132914
• eBook ISBN: 9781400848607
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Theory
• Index: Economics

Many low-income countries and development organizations are calling for greater liberalization of labor immigration policies in high-income countries. At the same time, human rights organizations and migrant rights advocates demand more equal rights for migrant workers. The Price of Rights shows why you cannot always have both.


Examining labor immigration policies in over forty countries, as well as policy drivers in major migrant-receiving and migrant-sending states, Martin Ruhs finds that there are trade-offs in the policies of high-income countries between openness to admitting migrant workers and some of the rights granted to migrants after admission. Insisting on greater equality of rights for migrant workers can come at the price of more restrictive admission policies, especially for lower-skilled workers. Ruhs advocates the liberalization of international labor migration through temporary migration programs that protect a universal set of core rights and account for the interests of nation-states by restricting a few specific rights that create net costs for receiving countries.



The Price of Rights analyzes how high-income countries restrict the rights of migrant workers as part of their labor immigration policies and discusses the implications for global debates about regulating labor migration and protecting migrants. It comprehensively looks at the tensions between human rights and citizenship rights, the agency and interests of migrants and states, and the determinants and ethics of labor immigration policy.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1 The Rights of Migrant Workers: Reframing the Debate
• Chapter 2 The Human Rights of Migrant Workers: Why Do So Few Countries Care?
• Chapter 3 Nation-States, Labor Immigration, and Migrant Rights: What Can We Expect?
• Chapter 4 An Empirical Analysis of Labor Immigration Programs in Forty-Six Countries
• Chapter 5 Regulating the Admission and Rights of Migrant Workers: Policy Rationales in High-Income Countries
• Chapter 6 Labor Emigration and Rights Abroad: The Perspectives of Migrants and Their Countries of Origin
• Chapter 7 The Ethics of Labor Immigration Policy
• Chapter 8 The Price of Rights: What Next for Human Rights–Based Approaches to International Labor Migration?
• Appendix 1 Tables A.1–10
• Appendix 2 Overview of Openness Indicators
• Appendix 3 Overview of Migrant Rights Indicators
• References
• Index