Ma adds that this labor force substitutes for high-wage domestic labor in three ways: First, foreign labor is brought into the country (Taiwan has, by conservative estimates, at least 300,000 foreign laborers at this time). Second, capital flows out, setting up factories where the cheap labor originates. And third, products from low-wage factories enter the international marketplace, undermining high-wage factories at home.
馬凱認為，這波勞動力會以三種形式進行取代本國高工資勞工，一是外籍勞工的直接引進，目前台灣保守估計已有二十多萬名外勞在此工作；其次是資金外流，去當地設廠；最後是當地生產的產品回銷國內，進一步打擊國內的本土產業。