Do Employers Matter?

This open access book explores employers’ interests in international labour migration, arguing that employers’ interests have consistently been a major force shaping and directing international labour migration in market economies.

Employers’ interests have been underestimated in part due to the lack of an appropriate theory. This book offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for studying employers’ interests in labour migration. It does this by building on neo-institutionalist concepts, and proposing a framework for classifying institutions relevant to employers’ pursuit of their interests in this domain.

Contributors utilise qualitative document analysis, political discourse analysis, and in-depth interviews with representatives of employers’ organisations and other actors knowledgeable about employers’ interests. By looking at historical events on several continents, and subsequently focusing on four European countries: the UK, Germany, Italy and Poland, this book demonstrates that employers’ interests have consistently been the reason behind international labour migration, even if they manifest themselves differently depending on the institutional environment of the particular country. This counters the dominant public narratives of today, which treat migration primarily as a security issue. By putting the spotlight on employers and offering a theoretical framework for analysing their interests and activities, this book hopes to rectify the imbalance in both academic and public discussions concerning labour migration and the forces that shape it.