Abstract
The purpose of this research is to explore state–business relations (SBRs) that have been established in the East Asian developmental states and assess how they have affected developments of foreign worker policies in Taiwan and South Korea. Based on regulation theory focusing on capture theory, this article regards foreign labour regulations as one of the institutional consequences of the developmental state, which emerged as an institutional structure in the East Asian states. The authors conducted qualitative analysis of public commentaries and government documents, and the findings reveal that while the regulation of foreign labour was generally marked by strong exclusionary practices in the East Asian developmental states due to their economic purpose characteristics, business-dominated SBRs in South Korea created a harsher institutional environment for foreign workers and less satisfactory policy outcomes than the state-dominated SBRs in Taiwan.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers, and take full responsibility for any errors in the manuscript.
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Seok Hyeon Choi
Seok Hyeon Choi is Researcher at the Gyeonggi Research Institute in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Pan Suk Kim
Pan Suk Kim is Professor of Public Administration at the College of Government and Business at Yonsei University, Wonju Campus, Wonju, South Korea. He is currently the President of the Asian Association for Public Administration (AAPA).