Strategic ambivalence above, selective implementation below: an institutional analysis of Kazakhstan`s policy toward skilled labor

Abstract

Aiming at entering the top thirty most competitive economies in the world by 2050 Kazakhstan faces a problem of inadequate human capital. However, an objective demand for foreign skilled workers notwithstanding, Kazakhstan fails to attract as many of them as its labor market needs. Driven by this puzzle, the given study analyzes labor migration policy of Kazakhstan regarding skilled workers. It attempts to explain what factors make Kazakhstani labor migration policy ineffective under the condition when skilled foreign workers are needed. Two main factors influence the outcomes of labor migration policy implementation: decentralized decision-making and strategic ambiguity. Transferring the function of policy implementation to local-level bureaucratic institutions the state not only shifts its responsibilities to bureaucrats but also provides them with a certain degree of autonomy and discretion. However, the state and its institutions have no a coherent vision of the national interest in labor migration. Bureaucrats concerned with their professional duties have a more protectionist stance on foreign specialists’ inflows. Meanwhile, aimed at increasing these inflows the state ensures its interest through strategic ambiguity in its discourse and practices. It allows the state to reconcile an economic need in more foreign skilled workers with a political demand for a more restrictive labor migration policy. Thus, starting from above ambiguity is manipulated by local bureaucrats to meet their professional and, occasionally, personal interests when implementing the policy. As a result, the state fails to attract the needed numbers of foreign specialists. In other words, the policy through which the state aims to achieve its goals turns to be ineffective. This thesis demonstrates that an institutional approach with an emphasis on the bureaucratic model of decision-making is a better way to understand the reasons of labor ix migration policy ineffectiveness in Kazakhstan. However, it also shows that when bureaucrats are involved in the policy-making process the findings from this case can be applied to the countries other than Kazakhstan and public policies other than migration