Regional Origins of Philippine Overseas Contract Workers James A. Tyner* Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA ABSTRACT International labour migration remains a staple feature of the global economy. Especially since the early 1970s, many governments throughout south and southeast Asia have embarked upon overseas employment programmes in an effort to facilitate economic growth and development. In response, a sizeable body of work has emerged to ascertain the effectiveness of overseas employment. Whereas considerable work has examined the volume and destinations of international labour migration, decidedly fewer studies have analysed the origins of migrant workers from labour-sending states. As such, policy formulation is potentially jeopardised, as governments are ill-prepared to specify with any certainty whether migration ameliorates or exacerbates regional inequalities. Using special data-sets provided for the author, this paper examines the regional origins and attributes of overseas contract workers from the Philippines. In the ®rst analysis, the relative contribution of overseas employment is examined. In the second analysis, migrant labour-force participation rates ± disaggregated by age, educational attainment and geographic region ± are calculated. Findings from the ®rst analysis suggest that regions adjacent to, and including, the National Capital Region are over-represented in their overall contribution to international labour migration. Findings from the second analysis suggest that the labour-absorptive capacity of the Philippines is less for those with some college education, and that the greatest impact of labour export is felt in the areas adjacent to the National Capital Region. Moreover, patterns of migrant origins are contingent upon structural, institutional and social factors. Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 17 January 2001; revised 16 February 2001; accepted 22 February 2001 Keywords: international labour migration; origins; Philippines INTRODUCTION S ince the mid-1970s, numerous govern- ments throughout south and southeast Asia have utilised overseas employment programmes as development tools. Bangla- desh, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, in particular, have ac- tively encouraged the export of labour as a means of reducing unemployment, generating foreign capital, and increasing the skill levels of their populations. However, as Papademe- triou 1991: 272) observed, `many emigrant- sending countries have been rather slow in assessing the effects of the migration process'. Indeed, the intensity at which overseas em- ployment programmes have been implemen- ted has not been matched with adequate empirical studies on the geographical conse- quences of emigration. In part, the lack of detailed studies results from a paucity of data, insuf®cient administrative resources, and the sheer size of migrant out¯ows. Regardless of the cause, policy formulation is potentially jeopardised through these omissions. Govern- ments are often ill-prepared to specify with INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY Int. J. Popul. Geogr. 7, 173±188 2001) DOI: 10.1002/ijpg.217 Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. * Correspondence to: J. A. Tyner, Department of Geo- graphy, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA. E-mail: jtyner@kent.edu.