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Labor Mobility and Industrialization in Post-Socialist Cambodia

Loem, Senghuo
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7208-3525
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1494934181936051

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Asian Studies (International Studies).
Between the socialist regime during the 1980s and the present-day post-socialist period, Cambodia has undergone a series of remarkable changes. The country’s economic system has transitioned from an agricultural-oriented economy to a more manufacturing-oriented economy. The industrial sector has become a major provider of employment and income to young Cambodians. As a result, the country’s labor mobility has increased significantly from an almost stagnant to a robust state. With the rapid industrialization and increasing migration from rural areas to urban areas or overseas, the Cambodian government and workers encounter a myriad of challenges and opportunities in the post-socialist period. This thesis explores the transformation of the Cambodian labor mobility from the socialist to the post-socialist period as well as the influences of industrialization on those rural migrants who now live and work in the country’s Special Economic Zones. This thesis explores three research questions: (1) How has the recent transition to a capitalist market economy affected migration patterns in Cambodia? (2) What factors have caused rural Cambodian residents to migrate to urban centers and abroad? and (3) What policy suggestions can be made to improve socio-economic conditions for Cambodian migrant workers? In an attempt to answer these research questions, two sample groups, totaling of 58 participants, of domestic migrant and immigrant workers engaged in face-to-face interviews. Cambodia’s economic transition has certainly created a large and growing number of manufacturing jobs for rural migrants in newly industrialized urban areas. However, this study finds that unlike conventional thinking that rural migrants are attracted to manufacturing jobs and better economic opportunities offered in cities or overseas, many migrants leave their rural homes due to low productivity in farming. The lack of infrastructure (irrigation system) and the increasing effects of climate change, which causes persistent drought and heavy flooding, negatively affect farms and decrease the agricultural yields. While failing farms have been the primary factor in motivating and keeping the domestic migration, higher wages have been the pull factor for the immigrant workers. This research finding clearly shows that the availability of manufacturing jobs influences the migrant and immigrant workers’ decision on different levels. The migration journeys of both groups of workers consist of opportunities and challenges, which require government intervention.
Yeong-Hyun Kim, Dr. (Committee Chair)
Takaaki Suzuki, Dr. (Committee Member)
Olga Belskaya, Dr. (Committee Member)
125 p.
Asian Studies; Geography; Labor Economics; Labor Relations; Modern History; Political Science
Cambodia; Labor Migration; Migration; Immigration; Industrialization; Post-Socisalist; Rural-Urban Migration; Economic Transition in Post-Socialist Cambodia; Urbanization; Manufacturing Jobs; Remittances; Migration Policies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Loem, S. (2017). Labor Mobility and Industrialization in Post-Socialist Cambodia [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1494934181936051

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Loem, Senghuo. Labor Mobility and Industrialization in Post-Socialist Cambodia . 2017. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1494934181936051.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Loem, Senghuo. "Labor Mobility and Industrialization in Post-Socialist Cambodia ." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1494934181936051

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1494934181936051
945
© 2017, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Labor Mobility and Industrialization in Post-Socialist Cambodia by Senghuo Loem is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.