Labour Market Reform and the Plight of the Laid-off Proletariat

2002 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 304-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy J. Solinger
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Economic Restructuring ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Market Reform ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Rural Migrants ◽  
State Sector ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
The Past ◽  
Material Conditions

The government's projects and claims to succour the workers made redundant by its economic restructuring of the past decade have all run into severe difficulties. Indeed, all three of the state's undertakings directed at the furloughed are burdened by stunning weaknesses that cast enormous doubt upon reports of the opportunities both for the furloughed to find new employment and for them to obtain state assistance. The non-state sector generally has more work for rural migrants or the highly educated than for the laid-off; the Re-employment Project is full of pitfalls; and immense challenges of both resource scarcity and administrative incapacity characterize the national-scale social welfare programme. This article thus sets out the material conditions confronting those who have lost their jobs.

scholarly journals The state, wage-fixing and labour market reform: some international perspectives

1970 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Boston
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Wage Bargaining ◽  
Market Reform ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Macroeconomic Performance ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Perspectives ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores three main issues. First, it examines the changes which have occurred in the nature and scope of state intervention in pay fixing within the OECD during the past two decades. Second, it outlines the strategies which have been adopted recently by many western govern1nents to enhance wage flexibility and im.prove the operation of labour markets. Third, it critically assesses the merits of the Calmfors-Driffill thesis concerning the relationship between wage bargaining systems and macroeconomic performance. It is argued that there are good theoretical reasons as well as some strong empirical evidence to support the Calmfors-Driffill thesis, but that bargaining structures are only one of a multitude of factors which influence economic outcomes.

scholarly journals Romanians’ attitudes towards mobility for work from a gendered perspective

10.26458/1443 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Andra-Bertha SĂNDULEASA
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Third World ◽  
Economic Restructuring ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Female Migration ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Labour Market Mobility

Employment strategies in the European Union laid stress on the importance and on the need to increase the participation of women on labour market. On the other hand, evidence shows that international migration has been feminised in Europe and that, in the past decades, geopolitical conflicts and economic restructuring in Eastern Europe and the Third World generated new patterns of female migration. This article explores Romanians’ attitudes towards mobility for work from a gendered perspective. Based on the Special Euro-barometer 337 – Geographical and labour market mobility – conducted in 2009 on behalf of the European Commission, the main findings of the article are that gender is an important aspect in analysing people’s economic behaviour. The research argues that in order to increase women’s participation on labour market, a deeper understanding of the situation of females on labour market is required.

New forms of intra-European migration, labour market dynamics and social inequality in Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Verwiebe ◽  
Laura Wiesböck ◽  
Roland Teitzer
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Market Dynamics ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
European Continent ◽  
The Past ◽  
European Migration

This article deals mainly with new forms of Intra-European migration, processes of integration and inequality, and the dynamics of emerging transnational labour markets in Europe. We discuss these issues against the background of fundamental changes which have been taking place on the European continent over the past two decades. Drawing on available comparative European data, we examine, in a first step, whether the changes in intra-European migration patterns have been accompanied by a differentiation of the causes of migration. In a second step, we discuss the extent to which new forms of transnational labour markets have been emerging within Europe and their effects on systems of social stratification.

Theodore W. Schultz. The Economics of Being Poor. Oxford: Blackwell. 1993. ix+340 pp.+ Index. Hardbound. £ 40.00.

1995 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-85
Author(s):  
Mir Annice Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Logical Sequence ◽  
Standards Of Living ◽  
Economic Journals ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
Demand For Children

Improving the material conditions of the poor has been the main focus of economic policy formulation for the past fifty years or so. Thus, in this connection, a vast body of literature has been published which deals with such issues as identifying the poor and suggesting remedies to alleviate their lot. The book by Theodore W. Schultz deals specifically with the economics of the poor. The book is primarily a collection of articles the author wrote over a fortyyear period (1950-1990), and these have been published previously in a number of leading economic journals. The articles have been grouped under three headings: "Most People Are Poor"; "Investing in Skills and Knowledge"; and "Effects of Human Capital". The articles basically deal with the concept of human capital. There is a logical sequence to the articles that make up this book; the poor are identified and steps are then suggested to improve their standing. Issues such as women's economic emancipation and the demand for children are highlighted in the collection of articles dealing with these two subjects. By investing in themselves through education, the poor raise their level of skills, and thus their level of wages/salaries, allowing them to enjoy higher standards of living.

scholarly journals Skilled Migrants in the Swedish Labour Market: An Analysis of Employment, Income and Occupational Status

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3428
Author(s):  
Nahikari Irastorza ◽  
Pieter Bevelander
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Skilled Immigrants ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Highly Skilled Migrants ◽  
Highly Skilled ◽  
Integration Of Immigrants ◽  
Employment Rates

In a globalised world with an increasing division of labour, the competition for highly skilled individuals—regardless of their origin—is growing, as is the value of such individuals for national economies. Yet the majority of studies analysing the economic integration of immigrants shows that those who are highly skilled also have substantial hurdles to overcome: their employment rates and salaries are lower and they face a higher education-to-occupation mismatch compared to highly skilled natives. This paper contributes to the paucity of studies on the employment patterns of highly skilled immigrants to Sweden by providing an overview of the socio-demographic characteristics, labour-market participation and occupational mobility of highly educated migrants in Sweden. Based on a statistical analysis of register data, we compare their employment rates, salaries and occupational skill level and mobility to those of immigrants with lower education and with natives. The descriptive analysis of the data shows that, while highly skilled immigrants perform better than those with a lower educational level, they never catch up with their native counterparts. Our regression analyses confirm these patterns for highly skilled migrants. Furthermore, we find that reasons for migration matter for highly skilled migrants’ employment outcomes, with labour migrants having better employment rates, income and qualification-matched employment than family reunion migrants and refugees.

scholarly journals Industrial legislation in Australia, 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110082
Author(s):  
Eugene Schofield-Georgeson
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Workers Compensation ◽  
State Governments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wage Theft ◽  
Economic Stimulus ◽  
Liberal Government

In 2020, the Federal Morrison Liberal Government scrambled to respond to the effects of the international coronavirus pandemic on the Australian labour market in two key ways. First, through largescale social welfare and economic stimulus (the ‘JobKeeper’ scheme) and second, through significant proposed reform to employment laws as part of a pandemic recovery package (the ‘Omnibus Bill’). Where the first measure was administered by employers, the second was largely designed to suspend and/or redefine labour protections in the interests of employers. In this respect, the message from the Federal Government was clear: that the costs of pandemic recovery should be borne by workers at the discretion of employers. State Labor Governments, by contrast, enacted a range of industrial protections. These included the first Australia ‘wage theft’ or underpayment frameworks on behalf of both employees and contractors in the construction industry. On-trend with state industrial legislation over the past 4 years, these state governments continued to introduce industrial manslaughter offences, increased access to workers’ compensation, labour hire licensing schemes and portable long service leave.

Creating Productive Jobs in East European Transition Economies: a Synthesis of Firm-Level Studies

2008 ◽  
Vol 204 ◽  
pp. 108-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Brown ◽  
John S. Earle
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Transition Economies ◽  
Market Reform ◽  
Aggregate Productivity ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
East European ◽  
Job Reallocation ◽  
Firm Turnover ◽  
Market Liberalisation ◽  
Productivity Gains

The challenge for labour market policy in the new member states and other transition economies of Eastern Europe has been to redress the sharp drops in employment and rises in unemployment in a way that fosters the creation of productive jobs. This paper first documents the magnitude and productivity of job and worker reallocation. It then investigates the effects of privatisation, product and labour market liberalisation, and obstacles to growth in the new private sector on reallocation and its productivity in Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. We find that market reform has resulted in a large increase in the pace of job reallocation, particularly that occurring between sectors and via firm turnover. Unlike under central planning, the job reallocation during the transition has contributed significantly to aggregate productivity growth. Privatisation has not only stimulated intrasectoral job reallocation, but the reallocation is more productive than that among remaining state firms. The estimated effect of privatisation on firm productivity is usually positive, but it varies considerably across countries. The productivity gains from privatisation have generally not come at the expense of workers, but are associated rather with increased wages and employment.

Marx and the mirage of change: Notes from South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 194277862110478
Author(s):  
Sagie Narsiah
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
The Past ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Historical Periods ◽  
Spatial Content

There is little doubt that the understanding of the dynamics of capitalism has been enriched by Geography. Moreover, geographers utilizing Marxist/Marxian lenses have provided valuable insights into the spatial content of the system. Over the past two decades or so, geographers in no small way have contributed to the demystification of capitalism/capitalist development in its neoliberal incarnation – change as mirage. Furthermore, poverty, inequality, unemployment and related social ills are directly linked to the system. Indeed, they are produced by the system. In this paper, the geographical evolution of the capitalist system in South Africa is examined. Critical thinkers, among them Marxists, influenced the theorization of the relationship(s) between capitalism, apartheid, class and race. In this paper, I focus on the spatial aspects, which in my view have been neglected. I reflect on various historical periods – the apartheid era and the post-apartheid era, in particular. What is apparent is that neoliberalism in South Africa has entered a phase which I label “accumulation by corrupt means”. The class basis of this strategy is examined. Critical (Marxist) geographers are shaped by the direct experiences of material conditions. I describe my experiences in this regard.

scholarly journals Illuminating Vestige: Amateur Archaeology and the Emergence of Historical Consciousness in Rural France

2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 474-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Hodges
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Economic Restructuring ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Historical Ethnography ◽  
The Past ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Rural France

AbstractThis article provides a historical ethnography of an abrupt and transient awakening of interest in Roman vestige during the 1970s in rural France, and explores its implications for comparative understanding of historical consciousness in Western Europe. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Languedoc, and particularly the commune of Monadières, it details a vogue for collecting pottery shards scattered in a nearby lagoon that developed among local inhabitants. The article frames this as a ritualized “expressive historicity” emergent from political economic restructuring, cultural transformation, and time-space compression. It analyses the catalyzing role of a historian who introduced discursive forms into the commune for symbolizing the shards, drawn from regionalist and socialist historiography, which local people adapted to rearticulate the historicity of lived experience as a novel, hybrid genre of “historical consciousness.” These activities are conceptualized as a “reverse historiography.” Elements of historiographical and archaeological discourses—for example, chronological depth, collation and evaluation of material relics—are reinvented to alternate ends, partly as a subversive “response” to contact with such discourses. The practice emerges as a mediation of distinct ways of apprehending the world at a significant historical juncture. Analysis explores the utility of new anthropological theories of “historicity”—an alternative to the established “historical idiom” for analyzing our relations with the past—which place historiography within the analytical frame, and enable consideration of the temporality of historical experience. Findings suggest that the alterity of popular Western cultural practices for invoking the past would reward further study.

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