TY - JOUR T1 - Globalization, Jobs, and Welfare: The Roles of Social Protection and Redistribution JF - CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5191 Y1 - 2015 A1 - Ranjan, Priya KW - endogenous job destruction KW - offshoring KW - severance payments KW - unemployment KW - unemployment benefits AB -

This paper studies the welfare and policy implications of globalization when risk averse workers face the risk of unemployment. If the jobs performed by domestic workers can be easily substituted by imports, then globalization reduces wages and increases unemployment. In this situation, in the absence of any government intervention globalization not only reduces the welfare of workers but could reduce social welfare as well. Both unemployment benefits and severance payments can protect workers against labor income risk, but the latter enhances welfare more if job destruction is the source of unemployment. When optimal redistribution and social protection policies are in place, globalization necessarily improves social welfare.

VL - January 2015 L2 - eng UR - http://ssrn.com/abstract=2560751 ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Labor Market Regulations and Outcomes in Sweden: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Trends Y1 - 2015 A1 - Hulya Ulku A1 - Silvia Muzi KW - labor market regulations and flexibility KW - productivity KW - temporary employment KW - unemployment KW - wage determination AB -

This paper analyzes recent trends in Sweden’s labor market regulations in relation to comparator economies and examines the relationship between labor market regulations and outcomes. The paper finds that the Swedish labor market responded more rapidly to the recent global financial crisis than the majority of the European Union economies, which helped Sweden to recover quickly. Sweden’s hiring regulations are more flexible than those of many comparator economies, however, fixed-term contracts of short duration might have adverse consequences for the economy. In addition, Sweden’s regulations on work during the weekly holidays and mandatory paid annual leave are stricter than those of the majority of comparator economies. Moreover, among the economies of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Sweden has one of the largest differences in employment protection between permanent and temporary employees, which could lead to a segmented labor market, where insiders enjoy high job security and outsiders are largely marginalized. This could be cause for concern, given that Sweden has a higher share of involuntary temporary workers among youth and involuntary part-time workers than both the Nordic and European Union averages. While protecting employees is important, excessive protection, particularly if it differs across different types of employment contracts, has been shown to have adverse effects on welfare and economic performance.

PB - Development Economics Global Indicators Group CY - Washington, D.C. L2 - eng UR - http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2015/04/02/090224b082d2a86e/1_0/Rendered/PDF/Labor0market0r0sis0of0recent0trends.pdf ER - TY - RPRT T1 - A Multilevel Analysis of the Unemployment in Egypt Y1 - 2015 A1 - Bertoni, Eleonora A1 - Ricchiuti, Giorgio KW - discrimination KW - Egypt KW - Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey KW - gender KW - Multilevel Generalized Linear Mixed Model KW - unemployment AB -

Despite its recent economic development, Egypt employment inequalities among gender and between different age cohorts are still an unresolved issue. In this work we apply a Multilevel Generalized Linear Mixed Model to the Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey 2006 (ELMPS 2006) and 2012 (ELMPS 2012). By exploiting the hierarchical structure of the survey data, we investigate how the interplay between individual characteristics and regional context conditions Egyptians' individual probability of being unemployed. Moreover, we attempt to check if and how these same characteristics have changed between 2006 and 2012, that is, before and after the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2011 Revolution of the Arab world.

PB - DISEI - Università degli Studi di Firenze Working Paper N. 23/2014 CY - Firenze, Italy L2 - eng UR - http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2586535 ER - TY - RPRT T1 - World Employment Social Outlook: The Changing Nature of Jobs Y1 - 2015 A1 - International Labour Organization KW - global supply chains KW - ILO KW - informal employment KW - International Labor Organization KW - irregular work hours KW - joblessness KW - unemployment AB -

The world of work is changing profoundly, at a time when the global economy is not creating a sufficient number of jobs. The ILO estimates that global unemployment figures reached 201 million in 2014, over 30 million higher than before the start of the global crisis in 2008. Moreover, providing jobs to more than 40 million additional people who enter the global labour market every year is proving to be a daunting challenge. In addition to widespread joblessness, the employment relationship itself is facing a major transformation that is bringing further challenges. This report reveals a shift away from the standard employment model, in which workers earn wages and salaries in a dependent employment relationship vis-à-vis their employers, have stable jobs and work full time. In advanced economies, the standard employment model is less and less dominant. In emerging and developing economies, there has been some strengthening of employment contracts and relationships but informal employment continues to be common in many countries and, at the bottom of global supply chains, very short-term contracts and irregular hours are becoming more widespread

PB - International Labour Office CY - Geneva L2 - eng UR - http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_368626.pdf ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Labour Market Institutions and Worker Flows: Comparing Germany and the US JF - The Economic Journal Y1 - 2014 A1 - Jung, Philip A1 - Kuhn, Moritz KW - Germany KW - labor market flows KW - unemployment KW - unemployment rate volatility KW - worker flows AB -

We compare labor market flows in the US and Germany between 1980 and 2004. In Germany, average worker flows in and out of unemployment are substantially lower; outflows are equally volatile in both countries; inflows are about twice as volatile in Germany and contribute more to the unemployment rate volatility. We explore four candidates for these differences: unemployment benefits; union bargaining power; employment protection and the efficiency of matching unemployed workers to open positions. We find that a lower matching efficiency in Germany can explain the bulk of the cross‐country differences. It amplifies the business cycle and adds persistence.

VL - 124 L2 - eng UR - http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2536176 CP - 581 ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Overcoming the Youth Employment Crisis: Strategies from Around the Globe Y1 - 2014 A1 - Gregory Randolph KW - Brazil KW - Germany KW - India KW - Indonesia KW - South Africa KW - unemployment KW - working conditions KW - youth unemployment AB -

The youth employment crisis is one of the greatest perils facing the global economy today. Young people around the world – in industrialized, emerging and developing economies alike – face acutely high levels of unemployment, low wages, poor working conditions, and obstructed pathways to economic mobility. This report examines 5 themes related to youth employment: (1) Young people require not only jobs, but career pathways, (2) Young people’s aspirations must inform job creation strategies, (3) Beyond job creation and training programs, policymaking must tackle the broader social and economic obstacles that limit young people’s employment prospects, (4) Policy coherence and effective coordination among stakeholders is required for any youth employment program to succeed and (5) Collective bargaining rights are critical to improving youth job outcomes. The report examines a range of youth education, social protection and employment programs in Germany, Brazil, U.S., India, South Africa, and Indonesia etc.

PB - JustJobs Network CY - Washington, D.C. L2 - eng UR - http://justjobsnetwork.org/wp-content/pubs/reports/Overcoming%20the%20Youth%20Employment%20Crisis.pdf ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better Bargain for Working People Y1 - 2013 A1 - Bernstein, Jared A1 - Dean Baker KW - employment level KW - full employment labor market KW - income gap KW - low-wage workers KW - unemployment KW - wage distribution KW - wage gap AB -

While most people intuitively know that low unemployment is important to job seekers, they may not realize that high levels of employment actually would make an enormous difference in the lives of large segments of the workforce who already have jobs. Particularly in an era of historically high wage and income inequality, many in the workforce depend on full employment labor markets, and the bargaining power it provides, to secure a fair share of the economy’s growth. For the bottom third or even half of the wage distribution, high levels of employment are a necessary condition for improving wages, higher incomes, and better working conditions. Getting Back to Full Employment is a follow-up to a book written a decade ago by the authors, The Benefits of Full Employment (Economic Policy Institute, 2003). It builds on the evidence presented in that book, showing that real wage growth for workers in the bottom half of the income scale is highly dependent on the overall rate of unemployment. In the late 1990s, when the United States saw its first sustained period of low unemployment in more than a quarter century, workers at the middle and bottom of the wage distribution were able to secure substantial gains in real wages. When unemployment rose in the 2001 recession, and again following the collapse of the housing bubble, most workers no longer had the bargaining power to share in the benefits of growth. The book also documents another critical yet often overlooked side effect of full employment: improved fiscal conditions (without mindless budget policies like the current sequestration). Finally, in this volume, unlike the earlier one, the authors present a broad set of policies designed to boost growth and get the unemployment rate down to a level where far more workers have a fighting chance of getting ahead.

PB - Center for Economic and Policy Research CY - Washington, DC L2 - eng UR - http://www.cepr.net/documents/Getting-Back-to-Full-Employment_20131118.pdf ER - TY - BOOK T1 - The Chinese Worker After Socialism Y1 - 2012 A1 - Hurst, W. KW - China KW - labor KW - reemployment KW - social dislocation KW - socialism KW - unemployment KW - workers AB -

This book was first published in 2009. While millions in China have been advantaged by three decades of reform, impressive gains have also produced social dislocation. Groups that had been winners under socialism find themselves losers in the new order. Based on field research in nine cities across China, this fascinating study considers the fate of one such group - 35 million workers laid off from the state-owned sector. The book explains why these lay-offs occurred, how workers are coping with unemployment, what actions the state is taking to provide them with livelihoods and re-employment, and what happens when workers mobilize collectively to pursue redress of their substantial grievances. What happens to these people, the remnants of the socialist working class, will be critical in shaping post-socialist politics and society in China and beyond. (publisher's statement)

PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York L2 - eng ER -