UNEVEN REGIONAL-DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNAL LABOR MIGRATION IN FIJI

The phenomenon of labor mobility in Fiji is encouraged by the existing pattern of uneven regional development which creates and contributes to limited economic opportunities. This is manifested by a disparity in the average annual growth rate of the provincial population, which implies migration from the lower income provinces to the higher income provinces. Circular labor migration follows the same path. Gains to the village economy from circular mobility, especially in the remote periphery and the outer islands, take the form of remittances which supplement local income. Labor mobility, and particularly its circular form, expresses the interdependency between the capitalist and village modes of production. This mobility is a mechanism whereby the native villagers supply cheap labor for the production of commodities, and at the same time contribute to village households income, and thus enable the native population to satisfy cash requirements beyond local commercial production capacity. Although this mechanism supports the existing core-periphery pattern in Fiji, it may be considered an integrative component in development strategies of small island states.