Building Inequality
Wage Disparity between Bangladeshi and Thai Guestworkers in Singapore's Construction Industry
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2374447 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Katie Rainwater (0009-0005-4490-8058, Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 509-526 |
| Publication date | 2021-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Work Employment and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0950017020942448 |
| OpenAlex | W2290394822 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
Existing research on wage inequality in the construction industry focuses on dual labour markets in which migrants earn considerably less than native workers. This article examines occupational inequality between higher-paid Thai and lower-paid Bangladeshi first-time guestworkers in Singapore's low-wage construction industry. It argues that differently priced national groups of first-time construction guestworkers persist in Singapore's industry; first, because Singapore wages are established with reference to the economies of sending states, and second, because construction firms associate worker productivity with nationality. Alleged differences in productivity between Thai and Bangladeshi guestworkers are related to the workers' differently classed socialization in their home countries: Bangladeshis are recruited from their country's middle-class, whereas Thais are working-class. Sourcing reflects the subset of each sending state's population who can afford the considerable recruitment and training fees and are attracted by Singapore wages and work
Business · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Immigration · Inequality · Labour economics · Nationality · Political science · Productivity · Sociology · Thais · Wage · Wage Inequality · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Socioeconomic Development in Asia
Class Inequality in the Global City
Bangladeshi Migration to Singapore
Theories of International Migration
Interrogating Racialized Global Labour Supply
Foreign Bodies at Work
The lyrics of laborious life
Labour migration trends and policy challenges in Southeast Asia
Bangladeshi construction workers and the politics of (im)mobility in Singapore
Cosmopolitan’ Villagers and Populist Democracy in Thailand
The Guest-Worker in Western Europe — An Obituary
Reconsidering Migration and Class
Foreign Labor and Economic Development in Singapore
Numbers vs. Rights
The lottery of my life”
Building Austin, building justice
On the Work of Urbanization
Recruitment processes and labour mobility
On more than Rural
Global Cinderellas
The good migrant
Between the village and the global city
African employment in Iberian construction
The making and unmaking of precarious, ideal subjects - migration brokerage in the Global South
Revisiting aspiration and ability in international migration
Producing ideal Bangladeshi migrants for precarious construction work in Qatar
"Classifying the "ideal migrant worker
Contentious mobilities and Cheap(er) Labour
Unfreedom Unbound
Culture at work
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |