Do employers in Myanmar prefer workers who accumulated skills in more advanced countries? Evidence from a field experiment

I conducted an audit study in Yangon, Myanmar, to examine the effects of foreign labor market experience on employment outcomes in the Myanmar labor market focusing on three skilled occupation groups-software developer, accountant, and engineer-which combined account for more than 80% of all professional and technical job openings. I find heterogeneous effects by employer type (local, foreigner), occupation (software developer, accountant, engineer), and foreign country where such experience was accumulated (Singapore, Malaysia). In particular, I find a large and significant effect for software developers who accumulated experience in Singapore and no significant effect for the same experience accumulated in Malaysia; the Singapore effect is mainly due to foreign employers operating in Myanmar. In contrast, I find no significant effects of foreign experience for accountants and engineers. This is true for both the Singapore and Malaysia experiences, as well as for local and foreign employers.