Abstract
ABSTRACT The title of this research project is the international recruitment of healthcare workers in Japan and Norway: A case study. Japan and Norway have a future projection of the shortage of healthcare workers. Since, health services are labour intensive; it is difficult to replace healthcare service with automated service, thus, recruitment of the foreign trained healthcare workers has gained popularity. The international community has raised concerns over the international recruitment of healthcare workers, which is weakening the health system of the source countries. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the similarities and differences in the regulatory frameworks of the international recruitment of healthcare workers between Japan and Norway. It also considers how, and possibly why, those frameworks may affect their working conditions. The research method is a comparative analysis of the international recruitment in two countries. Data used are primarily literature, public documents, statistics extracted from OECD. Stat, the number of ratifications of ILO Conventions, and the result of the National Reporting Instrument of WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. The data are analysed with the help of an analytical framework based on managerialism and marketization from New Public Management (NPM). This study finds that NPM has influenced the regulatory framework of the international recruitment of healthcare workers in both countries. In Japan marketization is a key word, while Norway is more inclined towards managerialism. It appears from the data that the difference in the regulatory frameworks of these countries may influence the working conditions of healthcare workers. The legal protection and the working environment of healthcare workers are defined by the regulatory framework and if it is not in place, the working environment would rapidly deteriorate.