A Tale of Two Policy Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Migrants’ School-to-Work Transition in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Foreign professionals have been frequently viewed as a remedy for labor shortages and as catalysts for economic development, prompting many governments—including Hong Kong and Taiwan—to facilitate their immigration for education and employment. Consequently, this study endeavors to identify a general pattern and plausible conditions that underpin the promotion of school-to-work transition policy regimes in a migration context. Using case-based analysis and the Most Different Systems Design (MDSD), secondary data were collected for the analysis. The findings reveal that, despite markedly differing political systems, both jurisdictions adopted a school-to-work policy regime in response to comparable conditions: the demographic changes, the influx of international students, and stable labor participation rates. A counterintuitive pattern was also discerned, demonstrating that political liberalism does not necessarily produce more liberal immigration policy regimes. Although policy convergence was observed, Hong Kong’s policy regime appears comparatively more liberal in terms of labor mobility and quasi-citizenship, enabling foreign graduates greater flexibility in navigating employment and access to rights that closely approximate citizenship. Taken together, these dynamics challenge conventional assumptions linking democracy to liberal immigration policies, while allowing us to rethink the conditions that mediate the formation of immigration policy.