越南牛頭與台灣仲介：跨國招工網絡的彈性重組

Vietnamese Recruiters and Taiwanese Brokers: Flexible Restructuring of Transnational Labor Recruitment Networks

要如何研究仲介在跨國遷移中的角色？本文指出三個不同研究取徑：從產業來分析仲介業者在市場競爭下如何發展經營策略來降低交易成本，並因應輸出國、輸入國政府的管制；從網絡來分析招工，強調社會鑲嵌得以增加媒合過程的信任或跨國交易的彈性；遷移基礎建設則描繪出跨國遷移過程中的多元中介機制，以及制度內捲化的效應。本文分析近年來台越跨國勞動力市場及招募移工網絡的變化與重組，試圖解答以下經驗謎題：台灣仲介面臨海外招工困難、國家管制緊縮等挑戰，儘管越南端的議價能力相對提高，但移工或仲介支付的費用並未顯著降低。透過整合上述理論觀點，我們提出的解釋包括：跨國勞動力市場中多重商品形式的轉換與交易、科技基礎建設（社交媒體）輔助招工網絡的彈性重組、國家管制與官僚治理衍生的非預期結果，以及比較不同產業受到輸入國管制、人道基礎建設的差別影響。

How to study the role of labor migration brokers? We identify three approaches: the industry approach examines how brokers develop business strategies to reduce transaction costs against the regulation of sending and receiving states; the network approach emphasizes how social embeddedness increases trust in the matching process and flexibility in transnational transactions; the concept of migration infrastructure encompasses multiple intermediary mechanisms and highlights the effect of institutional involution. To examine the changing market dynamics and the restructuring of recruitment networks between Vietnam and Taiwan in recent years, we start with the puzzle: although Taiwanese brokers face increasing migrant labor shortage and tightened state regulations, why have the amounts of agency fees (charged to migrants) and overseas payment (from Vietnamese brokers) yet decreased significantly? Integrating the three approaches, we propose the following explanations: the multiple forms of commodity exchange and conversion in the transnational labor market, the mediation of technological infrastructure (social media) to flexibilize labor recruitment, the unintended consequence of bureaucratic governance and state regulation, and comparing how the intervention of sending states and humanistic infrastructure have uneven effects across industries.