3.What are the advantages and disadvantages of opening labour markets on a global scale - Essay Example

s especially significant during the past few decades, where its number has grown from 120 million to 214 million in the 1990s and 2007, respectively (Breunig, Cao, and Luedtke, 2012). Such a global movement of labour resources has led to some other changes, which have led to both positive and negative consequences. The costs and benefits of free human mobility are dependent of different factors, and therefore, they can vary at different levels: individual, national, and aggregate (international) effects (Moses, 2006).

Therefore, while some parties (hosting countries) might gain some advantages, other parties (for example, sending countries) might be in disadvantageous position, and vice versa. Below is provided a more detailed overview of the advantages and disadvantages of labour migration and other consequences of opening labour markets in a global scale. Opening of labour markets in a global scale has provided enterprises and companies with greater flexibility: functional, numerical, temporal, financial, and geographical (Lewis et al.

, 2003:50 cited in Smith 2014). Such flexibility enabled companies to reduce the costs of human resources, to employ workers with specific (or rare) skills, and to implement effective HRM strategies. One of the advantages associated with the migration of labour force in result of opening market boarders is referred to the economic benefits (Moses, 2006). Economists view labour as another factor of production such as capital and land, which can be more cost-effectively or productively utilized in certain locations.

Labor market integration can have particular positive impact on welfare if the labour skills and goods produced are sufficiently different and there are no distortions (Schiff, 2004). Increased international migration as a result of opening labour markets might bring significant economic gains, especially in the long-term perspective (Moses, 2006). Removal of the barriers for labour free mobility will more likely result