Remitting behaviors and intention to return home of Thai migrant workers in Australia: A study of income, employment and legal satisfaction
Potjaporn Joonlaoun
Published online: 2017
Abstract
This study analyzed a correlation between intention to return home and remitting behaviors of Thai migrant workers in Australia and determinants of their decisions to return. Like other developing countries, Thailand’s economy considerably relies on international capital inflows, including workers’ remittance. Based on New Economics of Labor Migration and Three Waves Theory, the author hypothesized that remitting behaviors of Thai migrant workers in Australia correlate with their intention to return home. Further to test this hypothesis, this paper also identifies the determinants of return intention. The author surveyed a hundred Thai migrant workers in Australia, particularly in the service sector, and use Pearson Correlation and Stepwise Regression to analyze data. The results are reported in descriptive analysis. Correlation coefficients are used to quantify the association between continuous variables. The analysis shows that intention to return home induces remittances in terms of amount per year and proportion to income. Having further considered the determinants to return home of workers, income and employment satisfaction seem not to affect their decisions as hypothesized significantly. On the other hand, they are preferably satisfied in legal issues, particularly visa regulations and labor protections, and they became important negative factors of intention to return. Furthermore, international agreement and some legal instruments such as the agreement between Thailand and Australia for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion concerning taxes on income, Fair Work Act 2009 and Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541, are also used to deepen the understanding of the economic outcome.