Building Inequality: Wage Disparity between Bangladeshi and Thai Guestworkers in Singapore’s Construction Industry
研究了新加坡低薪建筑业中，泰国客工比孟加拉国客工工资高的现象，认为工资差异源于两国经济背景和雇主对国籍与生产力的关联认知。
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.