| Summary: | This paper aims to analyze the different types of informal institutions in Malaysia and
how they contributed to the survival of irregular migrant workers. By studying the
interactions between formal and informal institutions, we are able to learn how Malaysia’s
immigration policy effectiveness is being affected by informal institutions. The typology
invented by Helmke and Levitsky had identified four types of interactions between formal
and informal institutions: complementary, accommodating, substitutive and competing
interactions. By using the typology to guide this research, I interviewed irregular migrants,
agents, employers and non-governmental organizations and conducted ethnographic
observations in several migrant communities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Through the
interviews and observations, I found that some informal institutions enhanced immigration
policy effectiveness; some informal institutions substitute for the policy gaps left by the
formal institutions; some violate the policy objectives without violating laws and some
challenge the state’s capacity to govern the society. This paper provides several policy
recommendations on interactions with different informal institutions.
|
|---|