The Asian Development Bank said less developed Asian economies are gaining from the liberalization of labor movement into developed Asia.

The ADB noted that China, the Philippines, Thailand and East Asia were the primary suppliers of migrant labor in the region, with India and South Asia accounting for a few migrants.

In a study on Asian migration prospects, the ADB looked at the impact of liberalizing migration flows into developed Asia, North America, Europe, Oceania, Japan and the Middle East from the less developed economies of Asia.

“Intra regional policies can offer an important mechanism by which the Asian economies can reap some of the gains from liberalizing migration; particularly given the reluctance of Europe and the United States to open their borders,” said Terrie Walmsley and S. Amer Ahmed in the ADB economics working paper on Asian migration prospects released recently.

“Such regionally based policies aimed to offer potential gains in terms of real income and long-run economic growth, particularly for those countries in East and Southeast Asia,” they said.

The paper said real incomes in less developed economies rise due to the increase in remittances sent home by new migrants and higher real wages of skilled and unskilled workers.

In terms of the gross domestic product, however, the paper said exclusively migrant sending economies show declines in real GDP and that the magnitude of the decrease depends on the extent to which the fall in labor reduces the endowment of skilled and unskilled labor at home. Eileen A. Mencias