International labor migration and financial crisis in Korea.

Although the Korean economy became severely depressed because of the financial crisis in November 1997, most foreign migrant workers in the country opted to stay rather than return to their home countries. This study examined the causes of their relative immobility at both the macro- and microlevel through the use of government statistics and survey data. The first section of this study explored in- and outflows of migrant workers in relation to labor market conditions and government interventions before and after the crisis. The second section looked into the effects of the crisis on the companies employing migrant workers, while the final section investigated the effects of the crisis on migrant workers. The findings of this study indicated that the amnesty measure, which was a major government policy to reduce the number of illegal sojourners, exerted some positive effect in the first months after the crisis. Employment and income opportunities at origin countries are important factors determining mobility. Moreover, manufacturing companies still prefer to hire migrant workers before native workers because of cheaper wages for the former. Overall, most migrant workers, regardless of their sojourn status, desire to stay in Korea because of two main reasons: 1) their total earnings are less than their migration costs; 2) they cannot get a job in their home country.