ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with conditions of labour shortage, investigating the inter-Arab and ldcArab migration that the boom in OPEC countries has given rise to. In the labour-surplus OPEC countries, however, it is typical to find that rural-to-urban migration is undertaken as a lifelong commitment. The balance of welfare can never be finally assessed; instead, it can only be observed that changing earnings differentials should in the long run compensate for any vicissitudes produced in neighbouring countries by over-reliance upon migration to OPEC states. As was found to be the case with the labour-scarce and capital-abundant Arab states, migration has played a crucial part in recent economic development. But migration in the non-Arab states has been quite different: it has not been between countries across borders, but almost exclusively within each country, and for the most part rural-to-urban. The chapter discusses the ways in which the provision of labour to OPEC affects other elements of the foreign affairs relationship.
