Yaw Nyarko ADvocacy Presentation on “Recruiting International Migrant Labor: Theory and Evidence (UAE)” at NYU Abu Dhabi

On April 14, 2019, I was invited by NYU Abu Dhabi’s student-led organization ADvocacy to give a talk concerning the issues faced by blue-collar workers in the UAE and globally. My talk gave a social and historic overview of migration in the Gulf countries, and then narrowed down to the lives of migrant workers. My talk concluded with a brief Q&A session where students discussed the effect of current laws on the labor market, as well as ensuing steps in this research project. Topics discussed included:

• How the recruitment process for workers and the labor supply chain affect the distribution of gains across employees, firms and labor brokers;

• Heterogeneity of recruitment fees paid by different people;

• Interaction of skills, information asymmetries, and beliefs surrounding migration; and

• Perception on costs and benefits of migration.