Youth Employment, Informality, and Precarity in the Global South

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shailaja Fennell
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Labor Migration ◽  
Global South ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Market Theory ◽  
Rural Labor ◽  
Increase Productivity ◽  
Standard Employment Relationship

Characteristics of labor markets are often assumed to be universal, when in fact they are peculiar to patterns of employment in Europe and North America. This essay makes these universalist assumptions about labor markets for youth explicit, challenging their foundational claims in relation to trends in parts of the Global South. Urbanization, the Standard Employment Relationship (SER), and the notions of precarity are all analyzed for their Northern biases. The work of early labor market theorist W. Arthur Lewis is then explored, critiquing how his theory was reduced to one aspect—rural labor migration to urban factory work to increase productivity—when it had complex social, political, educational, and policy-related implications. Southern scholars should not be interpreted in terms of their relevance to Northern processes. They should be grappled with on their own terms, in relation to the Southern contexts from which they speak. Finally, an agenda for Southern labor market theory building is offered.

Die Ursachen der transatlantischen Produktivitätswachstumsunterschiede

2006 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudolf Besch ◽  
Guido Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Labor Market Reforms ◽  
Increase Productivity ◽  
The U.S

AbstractThis paper gives a survey on the causes of the divergence in productivity growth rates between the U.S. and Europe in the last 15 years. It is shown that Europe’s lag in productivity growth can be traced to relative lower productivity growth in the service sector. This is due to over-regulated goods, capital, land, and labor markets. Although there is a consensus that in the long run no relationship exists between productivity growth and labor market performance, in terms of policy, well-specified labor market reforms are recommended to increase productivity growth in Europe. For labor market reforms are a necessary complement for productivity-enhancing product market reforms.

scholarly journals A GENERALIZED LABOR MARKET THEORY: INEQUALITY AS LABOR DISCIPLINE DEVICE

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (276) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo Figueroa
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Microeconomic Theory ◽  
Market Theory ◽  
Labor Discipline ◽  
Empirical Regularities ◽  
The Common

The standard microeconomic theory of labor market assumes that unemployment operates as the labor discipline device in advanced countries. What is this device in developing countries? This paper seeks to give an answer to this question by constructing a new theoretical model and by confronting its predictions against a set of empirical regularities that characterize the functioning of labor markets in developing countries. In comparing the two models, the paper shows the existence of a generalized labor market theory in which inequality among workers constitutes the common labor discipline device, which just takes different forms in advanced and developing countries.

A Labor Market Theory of Earnings Distribution

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Charles Parker
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Beta Distribution ◽  
Distribution Density ◽  
Market Theory ◽  
Theoretical Rationale ◽  
Earnings Distribution ◽  
Distribution Density Function ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Special Case

A simple theory of the labor market is presented in which the short end of the market sells. A flexible parameterisation of the theory yields an earnings distribution density function which is closely approximated by the well-known beta and gamma specifications. Apart from providing a theoretical rationale for these tractable and closefitting specifications, the theory suggests that the parameters of the beta distribution (this distribution encompassing the gamma as a special case) can be interpreted in terms of the structure of labor markets. This has implications for why earnings distributions take their commonly observed positive skew, as well as for wider issues including the relationship between employment and equality.

Contradictions in Neoliberal Reforms

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Mundlak
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
The Body ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Executive Action ◽  
Standard Employment Relationship

Neoliberalism is typically associated with the commoditization and flexibilization of the labor market and a project of deregulation. In constructing responsibility between the employees and employer, deviations from the “standard employment relationship” (SER) indicate the neoliberal thrust. However, this study reveals a growing body of state-led regulation of one such deviation—mediated employment through temp-work agencies and subcontractors. The body of regulations, a source of social action, derives from collective bargaining, extension decrees, judicial decisions, and formal regulation by statutes and executive action. The chapter critically examines two interpretations of these legal developments: one that refutes the claim that neoliberalism dissolved the state’s responsibility, as evidenced by the ever-growing safety net; and another which claims that regulation is merely a token correction of dualism and fragmentation in the labor market.

The evolution of China's rural labor market in the 21st century: an empirical study based on nationally representative survey data at the household level

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tonglong Zhang ◽  
Xiaowen Huang ◽  
Lina Zhang ◽  
Linxiu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural Labor ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Migration

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the development of China's rural labor markets and the identification of the important factors that affect rural labor's off-farm employment and migration.Design/methodology/approachBased on a set of long-term panel data, this paper makes a clear judgment on the trend of rural labor transfer. High-quality survey design makes it possible to examine the development of the rural labor market from multiple dimensions. Adding household fixed effects to the empirical model alleviates endogenous problems.FindingsThe authors find that the increasing trend toward off-farm employment, which is dominated by migration, has continued. There are some other important findings: (1). young male workers dominated off-farm employment, but the gap between groups continues to narrow; (2). the structure of employment is a good response to the economic transformation and (3). the quality of off-farm laborers, especially in terms of human capital, has also enhanced significantly and has continued to support off-farm employment and migration. These findings all indicate that the China's rural labor markets have been constantly improving in recent years, although there is still segmentation.Originality/valueIt is the first paper that uses a nationally representative survey data to address the development of rural labor market in the 21st century. With the help of a long-term panel data structure and by controlling the household-level fixed-effect, the authors obtained a deeper and more robust conclusion. Specifically, this article finds that whether it is for the off-farm transfer or the migration, the influence of labor age, gender, human capital and marital status is gradually weakening.

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