Disaggregating developmental migration state: how inter-ministerial disagreements shaped Taiwan’s migrant worker policies

The developmental migration state is often conceptualised as a cohesive apparatus managing migration to achieve economic goals. To challenge this monolithic view, this article investigates a key puzzle in Taiwan’s migrant worker governance: why policy outcomes do not always align with the preferences of powerful economic-sector ministries. Drawing on elite interviews and documentary analysis, this study unpacks the ‘black box’ of inter-ministerial policymaking, finding that Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor (MOL) – often perceived as a weaker actor – consistently resists pressure on critical issues such as wage decoupling. The MOL’s unexpected influence stems from two bureaucratic mechanisms: specialisation, which provides the epistemic authority to frame policy debates, and hierarchy, its formal institutional position as the lead agency, reinforced by presidential support. This analysis highlights the fragmented nature of the state bureaucracy, where competing institutional missions shape policymaking, and proposes a broader understanding of social stability that emphasises labour market protection over cultural homogeneity. These findings contribute to migration studies by disaggregating state actors and revealing how specialisation and hierarchy enable bureaucratic agencies to assert policy leadership within contested governance environments.