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- Volume 16, Issue 1, 2001
Asia-Pacific Population Journal - Volume 16, Issue 1, 2001
Volume 16, Issue 1, 2001
Issued quarterly, this journal is an invaluable resource containing opinions and analysis by experts on critical issues related to population. It provides a medium for the international exchange of knowledge, experience, ideas, technical information and data on all aspects of population.
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Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia’s construction sector
Authors: Abdul-Rashid and Abdul-AzizThe 1980s and 1990s were characterized by an absorption of foreign labour into the Malaysian economy that was unprecedented in terms of numbers and rapidity. From approximately 500,000 foreign workers in 1984 (Ministry of Human Resources, 1991) their numbers shot up beyond 1.2 million in 1991 (Pillai, 1992) and 2.4 million in early 1998 (Utusan Malaysia, 1998). Labour voids manifested particularly during the high-growth period of 1988-1997 were the main inducing agent. Construction was among the sectors which came to rely heavily on foreign workers owing to a confluence of factors: Malaysian youth’s aversion to low-status work, an expanding manufacturing sector which was offering much better employment conditions, labour attrition, widening opportunities for tertiary education, a lower birth rate and the emigration of Malaysian workers to high-wage countries such as Japan and Singapore (Abdul-Aziz, 1995). The Construction Workers Union estimated that in 1987 about 60 per cent of the 300,000-350,000 workers in the industry were immigrants (Gill, 1988). Pillai (1992) estimated that, by 1991, 70 per cent of the construction workforce comprised immigrants, while the author’s own study (Abdul-Aziz, 1995) conducted in 1995 found that, in the major cities of Georgetown, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, foreign workers made up in excess of 80 per cent of site operatives. During this time, the nationality of site operatives, especially for the undocumented, diversified in tandem with the augmentation of the labour movement. As for legal entry, at the time of writing, Malaysia had granted to five countries, namely Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, permission to export their surplus construction labour to Malaysia.
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Women’s status, household structure and the utilization of maternal health services in Nepal
Authors: Masaki Matsumura and Bhakta B. GubhajuIt is well recognized that maternal health services have a critical role to play in the improvement of women’s reproductive health in developing countries (Magadi and others, 2000; Bhatia and Cleland, 1995; Becker and others, 1993; WHO, 1989). It is also well known that the utilization of maternal health services is undoubtedly influenced by the characteristics of the health delivery system such as the availability, quality and cost of the services. However, this does not necessarily mean that where there is a good supply of services, demand is created in and of itself, which will then lead to increased utilization. Thus, there has been considerable debate in the literature recently as to whether the mere provision of health services will lead to increased utilization (Magadi and others, 2000; Obermeyer, 1993; Basu, 1990). It may be true that, even under the same condition of availability, some women are more likely to use maternal health services than others. If so, characteristics of the health delivery system may not be the only explanatory factors for the utilization of maternal health services. Other factors such as the social structure and characteristics of individuals should also be considered in promoting the utilization of maternal health services.
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Demographic dynamics in the ESCAP region: Implications for sustainable development and poverty
Authors: Bhakta B. Gubhaju, K. S. Seetharam and Jerrold W. HuguetThe ESCAP region has undergone a substantial change in the growth and structure of the population over the past several decades. Several countries and areas of the ESCAP region have completed the demographic transition, reducing fertility and mortality to low levels, while in many others both fertility and mortality rates remain high. Levels of urbanization and growth of the urban population also vary across the region. This article examines the size, growth and distribution of the population and provides an overview of the patterns of urbanization and urban growth in the ESCAP region. It discusses new and emerging issues of demographic dynamics in the region, in areas such as the economic and social impact of ageing and international migration. Finally, it highlights the implications of the process of urbanization for promoting gender equality and equity, for sustainable development and for reducing the incidence of poverty.
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Moving and rootedness: The paradox of the brain drain among Samoan professionals
Author: Asenati LikiFor almost half a century, conceptions of Pacific islander movement have been influenced by the perspective of national economic development — one to which many planners and policy makers subscribe. In this view, movement is assumed to be unidirectional, from the islands to the metropolitan Pacific. This assumption creates and enhances images such as “permanent migration”, “emigration”, “exodus” and “brain drain” which are fundamentally associated with the core-periphery and growth-centre constructs of the Western-derived model of dual economy (White and others, 1989). Not only do they seriously misrepresent locally rooted meanings of mobility among indigenous islanders, but also these images imply development uncertainties that will face island populations in the future.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 32
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Volume 31
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Volume 30
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Volume 28
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Volume 26
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Volume 29
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Volume 27
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Volume 25
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Volume 24
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Volume 23
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Volume 22
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