scholarly journals Informal employment in the poor European periphery

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 387-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Pfau-Effinger
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Informal Employment ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Social Differences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
European Periphery

Purpose During the transition from socialist to post-socialist regimes, many Central and Eastern Europe societies have developed a broad sector of informal work. This development has caused substantial economic and social problems. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This paper aims to answer two questions regarding European countries with a relatively weak economy and welfare state: what are the differences in the social characteristics between workers in formal and informal employment? And how might they be explained? According to the main assumption, a key reason why people work in undeclared employment in such countries is that they are in particularly vulnerable positions in the labour market. This paper uses the example of Moldova. The empirical study is based on a unique survey data set from the National Statistical Office of Moldova covering formal and informal employment. Findings The findings show that, in informal employment, workers in rural areas, workers with a low level of education, young workers and older workers – in the final years of their careers and after the age of retirement – are over-represented. It seems that a significant reason why these workers are often engaged in informal employment is the lack of alternatives in the labour market, particularly in rural areas, compounded by limited social benefits from unemployment benefits and pensions. Originality/value Research about social differences between workers in formal and informal employment in the countries of the European periphery is rare. This paper makes a new contribution to the theoretical debate and research regarding work in informal employment.

scholarly journals Access to Social Security for the Rural Elderly in Vietnam

2019 ◽  
pp. 51-71
Author(s):  
Tran Quy Long
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
The Social ◽  
Agricultural Societies ◽  
Market Relations

The current situation of the socio-economic life of the elderly now in part reflects Vietnam’s historical characteristics. The socio-economic structure in Vietnam has changed drastically due to the development of market relations, migration, the transformation of traditional society and modern agricultural societies that are creating forms and levels of socio-economic risk for the elderly. Based on the data from two communes, the article shows that, older men are more likely to receive monthly social transfers than women. Elder ly people with higher education receive higher monthly social benefits than lower education one. The elderly in rural areas surveyed hardly enjoy any social welfare programmes. The only beneficiaries are those who must be 80 years or older without a pension or other allowance. Some older people are entitled to benefits but only from programmes not reserved for the elderly. In order to live, the elderly still have to work, mainly in agriculture. This fact reflects the contrast and inadequacy of retirement and health regulations, which stipulate that workers must stop working at a certain age. The enjoyment of social welfare differs between elderly groups with different personal and social characteristics. It can be said that elderly people in rural areas who are not entitled to social welfare benefits are “double disadvantaged”. This mandates that the policy should be aimed at all the elderly in ensuring social welfare. Along with this, it is necessary to have a roadmap to increase the level of monthly social welfare benefits for the elderly to gradually achieve the minimum living standard because the current level of support for the elderly in Vietnam is still much lower than the comparable level for the poor. The process of population ageing in Vietnam is bringing great opportunities as well as great challenges, requiring new approaches to pensions, social pensions, health and the social environment for the elderly in rural areas.

Students' perceptions of education for sustainable development

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Zeegers ◽  
Ian Francis Clark
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
Reflective Journal ◽  
Reflective Journals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Perceptions Of Education ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This study investigated whether a course which focused on raising students' awareness of sustainability, from a balanced perspective, that is, one which gives equal consideration to the social and economic aspects as well as the environmental would produce graduates with the knowledge and commitment required to drive the sustainability agenda forward. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of students' final entries in their reflective journal was used to explore whether their views on sustainability reflected a balanced view. Findings – The findings of this research confirmed previous studies showed that initially students do have an enviro-centric bias. It also showed that despite experiencing a pedagogical approach which challenged views by encouraging discussion, debate, and reflection and which provided what was considered to be a balanced view of sustainability, many of the students still leaned towards an environmentally focused perspective of sustainability. Research limitations/implications – The conclusions are based on one data set but are supported by other data described in the paper. Practical implications – The finding led the authors to conclude that a concerted holistic effort within and across courses is needed within tertiary institutions if students' views about sustainability are to be challenged. Originality/value – The outcomes demonstrate that students' reflective journals can be used to gather information about the change in students' perceptions about sustainability.

Which professional skills value more under digital transformation?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Paklina ◽  
Elena Shakina
Keyword(s):  
Text Mining ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Hedonic Pricing ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Computing Skills

PurposeThis study seeks to explore the demand side of the labour market influenced by the digital revolution. It aims at identifying the new composition of skills and their value as implicitly manifested by employers when they look for the new labour force. The authors analyse the returns to computing skills based on text mining techniques applied to the job advertisements.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is based on the hedonic pricing model with the Heckman correction to overcome the sample selection bias. The empirical part is based on a large data set that includes more than 9m online vacancies on one of the biggest job boards in Russia from 2006 to 2018.FindingsEmpirical evidence for both negative and positive returns to computing skills and their monetary values is found. Importantly, the authors also have found both complementary and substitutional effects within and between non-domain (basic) and domain (advanced) subgroups of computing skills.Originality/valueApart from the empirical evidence on the value of professional computing skills and their interrelations, this study provides the important methodological contribution on applying the hedonic procedure and text mining to the field of human resource management and labour market research.

scholarly journals Levelling the playing field? Active labour market policies, educational attainment and unemployment

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 276-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc Benda ◽  
Ferry Koster ◽  
Romke J. van der Veen
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
The Social ◽  
Unemployment Risk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Job Competition

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how active labour market policy (ALMP) training programmes and hiring subsidies increase or decrease differences in the unemployment risk between lesser and higher educated people during an economic downturn. A focus is put on potential job competition dynamics and cumulative (dis)advantages of the lesser and higher educated. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses multi-level data. The fifth wave (2010) of the European Social Survey was used and combined with macro-level data on labour market policies of the OECD. The sample consisted of 18,172 observations in 19 countries. Findings The results show that higher levels of participation and spending on training policies are related to a smaller difference in the unemployment risks of the educational groups. Higher training policy intensity is associated with a lower unemployment risk for the lesser educated and a higher unemployment risk for the higher educated. This implies that the lesser educated are better able to withstand downward pressure from the higher educated, thereby, reducing downward displacement during an economic downturn. Hiring subsidies do not seem to be associated with the impact of education on unemployment. Originality/value The paper adds to the discussion on ALMP training and hiring subsidies that are primarily rooted in the human capital theory and signalling theory. Both theories ignore the social context of labour market behaviour. The job competition theory and cumulative (dis)advantage theory add to these theories by focussing on the relative position of individuals and the characteristics that accompany the social position of the individual.

Immigrants’ socio-economic achievements and cultural diversity

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 712-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Tubadji ◽  
Masood Gheasi ◽  
Peter Nijkamp
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Control Variable ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Type Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Migrant Background ◽  
Cultural Milieu

Purpose An interest in social transmission as a source of welfare and income inequality in a society has re-emerged recently with new vigour in leading economic research (see Piketty, 2014). This paper presents a mixed Bourdieu-Mincer (B-M) type micro-economic model which provides a testable mechanism for culturally biased socio-economic inter-generational transmission. In particular, the operationalisation of this mixed B-M type model seeks to find evidence for individual and local cultural capital effects on the economic achievements, in addition to the human capital effect, for both migrants and locals in the Netherlands. The purpose of this paper is to examine two sources of wage differential in the local labour market, namely: individual cultural capital (approximated by immigrant background), which affects schooling results; and the local cultural capital (approximated with the cultural milieu), which directly biases the selection of employees. Design/methodology/approach The study utilises the 2007-2009 data set for higher professional education (in Dutch termed HBO) graduates registered in the Maastricht database. The Mincer-type equation is augmented with a control variable for the local cultural milieu. The authors cope with this model empirically by means of 2SLS and 3SLS methods. Findings The authors find convincing evidence for the existence of both an individual cultural capital and a local cultural capital effect on schooling and wage differentials. This can be interpreted as a migrant background effect leading to a disadvantaged position on the labour market due to less frequently attending high-quality secondary schools. Originality/value More importantly, the authors find evidence for a classical Myrdalian effect of self-fulfilling prophecy, in which graduates with second-generation migrant background have a disadvantaged position due to access only to poorer quality of schooling.

Social capital, labour market status and wages: some evidence from Spain

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-560
Author(s):  
Antonio Caparrós Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Multinomial Logit Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Market Status ◽  
Labour Market Status

PurposeThis article analyses the social capital's influence on the Spanish labour market. In particular, this study examines to what extent the social capital increases the likelihood of being employed, taking into account different labour market status, and diverse dimensions of the social capital. Focusing on wage earners, it is also analysed whether network structures in Spain influence on the wage earnings.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology applied to analyse the labour market status is a multinomial logit model. For the analysis of wages, it is specified a wage model with sample selection bias. In both cases, social capital indicators are included as regressors.FindingsThe results show that social participation exerts a positive influence on the probability of being self-employed, and lowers the likelihood of being unemployed. Moreover, it is verified that the interaction with family members or close friends influence positively on wages.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research should emphasise how employers assess the workers' competences associated with the social capital.Practical implicationsThe findings provide knowledge to policymakers useful to increase the role of social participation in the labour market.Social implicationsThe importance of social network as an instrument for the job search must be enhanced.Originality/valueThis article overcomes some drawbacks associated with the analysis of social capital from an aggregate perspective. Furthermore, social capital indicators are obtained using the Categorical Principal Components Analysis (CATPCA), which is unprecedented in the economic literature.

Risk management behaviour in banking

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 902-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Sheedy ◽  
Martin Lubojanski
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Risk Tolerance ◽  
Individual Risk ◽  
Speaking Up ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Behaviour

Purpose Risk management is now considered the responsibility of all financial services professionals, not just senior leaders or risk specialists. Very little is known about the role of staff in risk management, so the purpose of this paper is to, first, clarify what constitutes “desirable” risk management behaviour by financial services staff based on the practitioner and regulatory literature. Based on this understanding, the authors analyse the characteristics of those who are most likely to display such behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses some 36,000 survey responses across ten banks headquartered in Anglo countries. Findings Desirable risk management behaviour at the employee level includes compliance but goes well beyond mere compliance to include speaking up, thoughtful engagement with and accountability for the risk management framework. The authors find a significant negative association between individual risk tolerance and desirable risk management behaviour. Older workers as well as those with greater seniority are more likely to report desirable risk management behaviour. The link between female gender and risk management behaviour is not supported after controlling for individual risk attitudes. The authors provide evidence that females who succeed in financial services do not conform to traditional female stereotypes. Practical implications Findings suggest financial institutions should hire/retain more older workers and those with lower risk tolerance to improve risk management. Hiring more females, however, is not likely to lead to better risk management. Originality/value The paper is the first to investigate risk management behaviour in financial services staff. The research exploits a unique, difficult to obtain data set.

The Open Unemployment Trap: Life at the Intersection of Labour Market and Welfare State. The Case of Germany

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
RONALD GEBAUER ◽  
GEORG VOBRUBA
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Event History Analysis ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Event History ◽  
Incentive Structure ◽  
Data Set ◽  
History Analysis ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Short Period

It is a widespread assumption that the interface between social assistance and the labour market implies an incentive structure that hinders people to work. This incentive structure is known as the unemployment trap. In particular within economics it is seen as a matter of course influencing the debate on labour market and social welfare reform. In contrary to these dominant discourses, we take the unemployment trap-theorem as a hypothesis to be tested empirically. We focus on the case of German social assistance (Sozialhilfe) by analysing data from the Social Assistance Calendar from the German Socio Economic Panel (GSOEP), a longitudinal data set, recorded by the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW). The data are analysed by using approaches of the Event History Analysis, yielding results that clearly contradict the unemployment trap-theorem: Most people re-enter the labour market after a relatively short period of receiving Sozialhilfe. This is the starting point for asking for the recipients’ reasons for their labour market decisions by analysing 26 interviews with recipients of Sozialhilfe in Cologne and Leipzig.

Social and environmental disclosure index: perspectives from Indian corporate sector

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Singhania ◽  
Gagan Gandhi
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Corporate Sector ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social And Environmental Disclosure ◽  
A Company

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to construct the social and environmental disclosure index for Indian companies in order to examine the relationship between social and environmental disclosure and select corporate attributes. Design/methodology/approach – The sample covers annual reports of companies for financial year 2011-2012. The sample represents both financial and non-financial companies that constitute Nifty 50 Index companies as on March 31, 2012. The actual size of the sample analyzed represented 41 companies. The unweighted disclosure index approach has been used to measure the extent of disclosure of social and environmental information where an item scores 1 if disclosed and 0 if not disclosed. The authors built a model using regression which indicates the variables that are significant in determining the social and environmental disclosure of a company. The regression model can be used to predict the degree of disclosure of a company given the values of explanatory variables. Content analysis from annual reports of the companies has been used in constructing the dependent variable. Findings – Regression results indicate that location (place where the registered office of company is located), number of operations of company, turnover, sales and administration expenses, age of company, employee cost and interest paid by company are significant in determining the disclosure index of the company. Research limitations/implications – Sample size can be increased by considering more companies. In addition, a longitudinal study would enable in drawing comparison over a period of time with respect to disclosure index. The increased sample size would help in validating the disclosure score by dividing the data set into two: one as observation window and the other as validation window.The model explains 23 percent variation in disclosure index. More variation may be explained by incorporating more explanatory variables in the model. Practical implications – The authors indicate the level of disclosure in case of Indian companies which may prove to be an indicator for prospective investors especially in the present era of global financial and economic downturn. The paper may assist the regulators in framing policies regarding corporate governance. This will enable the regulators of corporate sector to frame laws in order to predict the degree of disclosure of a company based on certain explanatory variables. Originality/value – The authors focus especially on Indian companies for constructing the disclosure index which to the best of knowledge has not been attempted till date.

Falling inequality will help China 'rebalance' economy

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Hukou Reform ◽  
The Government ◽  
People's Congress ◽  
Opinion Polls ◽  
Official Corruption

Subject Inequality in China. Significance 'Income distribution' is the social issue of greatest concern to the Chinese public, according to opinion polls by Xinhua and the People's Daily ahead of the National People's Congress (NPC) currently underway in Beijing. However, the latest data from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate, paradoxically, that income inequality has actually narrowed for six successive years. Impacts Though falling, inequality is still high enough to weaken political stability. Greater equality will not earn the government as much popular support as cracking down on official corruption and conspicuous consumption. Urbanisation and household registration (hukou) reform will redress imbalances that have disadvantaged people from rural areas.

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