Determinants of labour exploitation: examples from Myanmar's migrant workers in Thailand

Despite their key role within Thailand's economy, migrant workers from Myanmar often work in vulnerable conditions where they are exposed to varying degrees of problems and exploitation, which range from being paid below the minimum wage, illegal wage deductions, inadequate housing and living conditions, long-working hours, workplace injuries and other ill treatments (Bruni, 2020; Harkins, 2019). While it is acknowledged that in Thailand some sectors of employment, such as agriculture, fisheries or the sex industry, tend to be more exploitative than others, there is no common understanding of which conditions influence the migrant's vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace (Harkins, 2019). Since 2018, various primary data collection activities carried out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) took an initial step in exploring such determinants (Bruni, 2020; Munstermann 2019, 2018a, 2018b). However, the research outputs of these exercises only provided summary statistics without displaying any regression analysis or exploring possible causal links. Hence, the aim of this DPhil study is to fill this gap and understand the degree to which different factors impact the migrant's (migrant workers in Thailand) vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace by answering the following research question and sub-questions:

Research question: To what extent different factors impact migrant vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace in Thailand?

Sub-question 1: What can be done and who should be targeted to reduce instances of exploitation in the workplace in Thailand?
Sub-question 2: Which factors impact migrant vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace in Thailand?

This DPhil study will follow a quantitative approach and will be based upon IOM Flow Monitoring survey data collected by the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) team under my supervision between January and March 2020 at selected border-crossing points at the Thai-Myanmar border. While this research has a limited geographical scope and external validity, the output of this study will still provide a unique evidence base for the Thai-Myanmar context and will add precious insights to the existing body of literature on migrant vulnerability on the workplace. In addition, it will be used to inform the policy response of IOM and its partners, both in Myanmar and Thailand. Ultimately, learning about the determinants of migrant's vulnerability on the workplace, especially when directly translated in operational actions, can help benefitting migrant workers and society as a whole.