Exploitation or Opportunities From International Trade
The debate over whether “capitalism,” international trade, the private sector, tourism and the activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) exploit workers in developing and less developed economies or provide additional opportunities which generally have positive outcomes has continued. Positions taken on the causes of poverty and ways forward to improve the lives of people living in poverty in developing and less developed economies are often framed by political ideology; thus many of the arguments ignore empirical evidence (Fwatchak, 2018). Despite the overwhelming evidence showing a strong and positive correlation between levels of international trade, connectivity with global value chains, and trade openness with improved economic performance and poverty reduction (e.g., Moore & Griffith, 2015; Stark, 2005; Walde & Wood, 2004); there continues to be persistent and strong opposition in some quarters to trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI), international tourism, and activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) due to a belief firms involved in international trade and tourism primarily exploit workers in developing countries (e.g., Bartra, 2016; Raynolds, 2000; Ricci, 2016).
When exploring the impact of tourism and international trade, the use of outside expert opinion is frequently used, while the views of the actually workers involved are generally ignored (Pleumarom, 2012; Truong, Hall, & Garry, 2014). Therefore to expand theoretical understanding this paper explores the perceptions of the impact MNEs, FDI, and the tourism industry have on the job satisfaction and perceived livelihood opportunities of workers in a developing country. It is possible the view from the workers’ perspective in a developing economy will be significantly different from the perspective of visitors, activists, and scholars, often coming from developing countries, who often supply the opinions and evidence used in the exploitation versus opportunity debate. A comparison of employees from both foreign and locally owned firms was carried out to exam their perceptions of salaries, working conditions, benefits, relationships with employers, and promotional opportunties. It is expected including the perspectives of the individuals who are most directly impacted by international trade, FDI, and international tourism will enrich the debates.
While no one study could hope to fully answer the exploitation versus opportunity question in regards to foreign investment, it is hoped exploring the question in a specific context from the perspective of the workers most affected will contribute to the debates and discussions over the issue. The research questions driving the study were, do workers in the tourism industry in Thailand feel exploited or feel they are being given additional opportunities by international tourism and the investment of foreign firms into the industry; and is there a difference in attitudes between workers in foreign owned firms compared to locally owned ones. As these questions are subjective in nature, it was decided to use the job satisfaction of the workers as a proxy for exploitation, as the concept of exploitation can be quite subjective in nature. It can be expected workers who feel exploited will also express very low satisfaction with their salaries, working conditions, and relationships with their employers. Also, the perception of having promotional opportunities was included as it would be expected workers who feel exploited would not perceive to have significant opportunities for promotion and advancement.