Governing private employment agencies in emerging markets: the case of labor migration governance in Kenya

Abstract

There has been a steady increase in labor migration globally. This movement, facilitated by private employment agencies, is fueled by the need to find new opportunities for a better life and to improve overall well-being. However, for many unskilled and low-income migrant workers in emerging markets, their mobility is marked by many vulnerabilities that make them prone to exploitation, impeding their well-being. My thesis adopts a policy study approach to analyze the role of private employment agencies, focusing on the case of Kenya as an example of emerging markets and how their activities threaten the rights of low-income migrant workers. Further, this policy study proposes policy options for the case of Kenya on the governance of PEAs on safe labor migration governance of low-income migrant workers. Various arguments and studies have been conducted on low-income migrant workers in the context of emerging markets. However, these studies have focused on these workers' economic rights, primarily because of their economic value to home and destination countries. Others have taken a rights-based approach, which is primarily developmental. This policy study reframes the approach to the rights of low-income migrant workers by considering their human and labor rights while also leaning on the migration rights provisioned by the Global Compact for Migration. Using interviews and documents as my key methods, this policy study shows that the policy options for the governance of PEAs in Kenya should be applied in plurality and tandem. The findings in Kenya are positioned similarly to scholarly findings of PEAs in emerging markets. This study produces insights that indicate that approaches for the governance of PEAs in emerging markets lean towards hierarchical and network-based modes of governance. This policy study highlights the interconnectedness of structural factors of the labor market that pave the way for the exploitation of low-income migrant workers and how the proposed policy options for the governance of PEAs address those issues, leading to the ultimate protection of the rights of these workers.