Mexican government faces wage conundrum

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Significant Rise ◽  
National Commission ◽  
Annual Increase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Costs ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So

Subject The government is under pressure to raise the minimum wage. Significance This month, the national commission that determines the minimum wage (CNSM) will decide on its annual increase for 2016. Pressure on the government to raise the level significantly has increased in recent months with opposition forces condemning it as one of the lowest in the region. However, to do so could reverse inflation's downward momentum. Impacts A significant rise in the minimum wage would push some businesses, particularly smaller ones, into the informal economy. The minimum wage will be one of the most relevant issues in the 2018 presidential campaign, especially if Mancera is the PRD candidate. Potential inflation and interest rate increases could force the government to resist calls for boosting the wage, despite political costs.

Egyptian wage rises will increase economic disparities

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Budget Deficit ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
The Government ◽  
Poverty Levels

Subject Planned pay increases in Egypt. Significance President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi in late March announced rises to the minimum wage, pensions and bonuses, which will be effective from July. This is intended to offset the inflationary effects of the 2016 currency devaluation, as well as austerity measures undertaken by the government in compliance with the terms of a 12-billion-dollar IMF loan. The wage reforms, however, target formal and public-sector employees and offer no benefit to more than 50% of the workforce employed in the informal economy. At the same time, the ambitious fiscal reform programme that Cairo has pursued over the past three years has increased poverty levels. Impacts Raising the minimum wage will in turn reduce spending on social protection programmes. Wage reforms will stimulate consumer spending and boost economic growth. The rising minimum wage will increase operating costs for small firms, which may evade paying the legal minimum through informal employment. Despite being intended to counter price rises, the changes risk fuelling cost-push inflation. Planned public sector pay rises risk increasing the budget deficit.

scholarly journals Monopoly behavior of China’s manufacturing enterprises

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-179
Author(s):  
Guidong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Manufacturing Enterprises ◽  
Slow Decline ◽  
State Capital ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So ◽  
Initial Jump

Purpose With the increase of state capital, corporate total factor productivity (TFP) has a tendency to jump up at first and then slowly decrease. Generally, no significant “productivity paradox” can be observed in China’s manufacturing industry. With the increase of export density, corporate TFP also shows a trend of initial jump growth and subsequent slow decline. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using the 1996–2013 China Industrial Enterprise Database, this paper studies the monopolistic behavior of Chinese manufacturing enterprises through the measurement of TFP and corporate monopoly power. Findings Results show that China’s manufacturing monopoly enterprises are generally innovation-oriented rather than rent-seeking. However, there are certain differences between diversified types of monopoly enterprises: the ones with state capital are more inclined to innovate than those without, whereas the ones with export delivery value are more inclined to seek rent than those without. Originality/value Therefore, the government should implement differentiated policies for diversified types of monopoly enterprises, and do so in a targeted manner fully reflecting the containment of rent-seeking and the encouragement of innovation.

Ciolos will aim to tackle Romania's developmental lag

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Infrastructure Investment ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Tax Collection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Party Government ◽  
Education And Health ◽  
The Government

Significance The non-party government of former EU Commissioner Dacian Ciolos took office on November 17 after the Ponta government stood down. Much of the previous administration's budget projections have been carried over, but the new draft also raises spending on investment, education and health, widening the projected deficit to 2.95% of 2016 GDP from 1.8% in 2015. Impacts PSD could insist on the budget including a rise in the minimum wage, but the government wants to assess its impact first. Parliamentary parties back the government publicly, but are manoeuvring for advantage with an eye to elections in late 2016. Key economic policies include infrastructure investment, improved administrative standards and tax collection, and absorption of EU funds.

Debt crisis will delay Zimbabwe economic recovery

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Illegal Immigrants ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Remittance Flows ◽  
Do So

Subject Outlook for Zimbabwe's sovereign debt. Significance Secretary to the Treasury Willard Manungo earlier this month revealed that the government owes its diplomats 10 million dollars in salary arrears. It is the latest development in Zimbabwe's fiscal crunch, worsened by President Robert Mugabe's government's limited access to debt financing. This is forcing it to pursue complex, simultaneous negotiations with multiple creditors. Impacts Limited financing will hurt government plans to import 700,000 tonnes of maize necessary to address drought-induced shortfalls. South Africa's restrictive visa regime and clampdowns on illegal immigrants could begin to hurt remittance flows to Zimbabwe. Former Vice-President Joice Mujuru is unlikely to announce a new party in the short term, but may do so before polls in 2018.

South African lockdown easing will only do so much

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So ◽  
Alcohol Sales

Significance President Cyril Ramaphosa, who had been under escalating pressure from business and organised labour to reopen the economy fully, justified the relaxation by citing reductions in new case figures. There are indications that all provinces may have reached their peak of infections by end-July. Impacts Despite the scale of the crisis, the government appears still to lack urgency in formulating a substantive economic response. Government's withdrawal of an appeal to a 2018 declaratory order will raise hopes for greater flexibility with miners in the short term. Lockdown-related drops in reported crimes will likely prove short-lived, given renewed alcohol sales, growing joblessness and hardship.

Tunisia’s new government will prioritise efficiency

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Informal Economy ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
State Of The Economy ◽  
The Government

Significance The administration has set out a list of priorities, most of which relate to the dire state of the economy and public finances. Impacts Administrative restructuring and a push for greater internal transparency are likely. The government will seek ways to channel funds into development projects, and to integrate the informal economy. The technocratic cabinet should not be divided by the partisan squabbles that its predecessor faced. Passing legislation and ensuring the sustained buy-in of parliamentary factions will remain a challenge.

Striving for job security

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 340-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghada Barsoum
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Great Appreciation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it seeks to voice the concerns of educated youth in Egypt as they describe their work options and preferences. Second, it seeks to highlight the gravity of the policy gap in addressing work informality, drawing on some of the international experience in this field. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research in the form of in-depth interviews, desk-review of policies, and descriptive statistical analysis of a recent national survey of labour in Egypt. Findings – A large proportion of educated youth work within the realm of informality and there is a clear policy gap in addressing this issue. Contrary to what would be expected, young people value access to social security and work stability. They face systemic hurdles related to access to such benefits. Because of the legacy of guaranteed government hiring of the educated in Egypt, young people express a great appreciation of work in the government, for virtually being the only employer offering job stability and social security in the labour market. Research limitations/implications – This paper addresses a gap in the literature on youth employment in Egypt, where there is a dearth of research focusing on the lived experience of employment precariousness. The majority of studies in this field relies on statistics with little qualitative research voicing the views of this group. Practical implications – Reforms are more urgent than timely to extend social security and other measures of social protection to workers within the informal economy. Originality/value – The paper builds on primary data and provides insights about the way educated youth perceive their working conditions and options. The paper also provides a discussion of the social security system in Egypt, its coverage, and possible reform approaches.

scholarly journals It's better than stealing: informal street selling in Brussels

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 670-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Boels
Keyword(s):  
Informal Economy ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Illegal Migrants ◽  
The Government ◽  
National Perspective ◽  
Precarious Situation ◽  
Better Than

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the organisation of informal street selling in the capital of Belgium, its association with formal and illegal selling and the perceptions, choices and decisions of the sellers. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach (case study) was employed, including interviews, observations and document analyses. Findings – The results point to different types of informal street selling, which are mainly executed by (illegal) migrants as a survival strategy. The case illustrates the different interrelations between the formal, informal and criminal economy. Notwithstanding the precarious situation of many informal sellers (informal), street selling is preserved by the government as a social safety net. Moreover, informal selling is neutralised by the suggestion that it is a better alternative than stealing or committing crimes which inflict physical harm and feelings of insecurity. Research limitations/implications – The results have limited generalisability, but are theoretically and methodologically important. Practical implications – Implications for migration policy (e.g. more preventative actions in countries of origin, shorter procedures, development of migration regulations accounting for other policy domains, e.g. employment market). Originality/value – The study fills a gap in the literature as there is limited empirical research on informal economy and Belgian informal street selling. Results are discussed in relation to international literature, thus overcoming a purely national perspective.

UK growth prospects limited if productivity steps fail

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Living Wage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Business ◽  
Current Minimum ◽  
Growth Prospects ◽  
The Government ◽  
Economic Considerations ◽  
The Eu

Significance The budget was the first Conservative-only budget since 1996. Driven by political as much as economic considerations, it aimed at entrenching the Conservatives in the political centre ground, in particular through the introduction of a statutory 'living wage' higher than the current minimum wage. The budget did not give priority to longer-term economic weaknesses, especially low productivity. However, the government is expected to address productivity in a follow-up package of supply-side measures today. Impacts Osborne's combination of welfare cuts with a minimum wage rise aims to increase incentives to work. However, it risks checking employment growth in low-wage industries. Osborne's introduction of the 'living wage' has discomforted the main opposition Labour Party. The two-part budget-plus-productivity-plan is a public showing for the important tandem of Osborne and new Business Secretary Sajid Javid. Any fresh Greece-related euro-area slowdown would hit UK export growth, stoking eurosceptic demands for weaker trade ties with the EU.

Threat of a downgrade hangs over Mexico

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Borrowing Costs ◽  
Sovereign Credit ◽  
Credit Line ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
Global Liquidity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Us Monetary Policy

Subject Mexico credit outlook downgrades. Significance On August 23, ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) lowered the sovereign credit outlook of the Mexican government to negative from stable. The same day, the credit outlooks of state-owned enterprises Pemex (oil) and CFE (electricity) were also moved to negative. Moody's modified its outlook on Mexico's debt to negative in March. Impacts A rating downgrade would represent both a financial and a political blow for the government. The 'normalisation' of US monetary policy should moderately increase borrowing costs for emerging sovereigns, including Mexico. In the unlikely case of a global liquidity crunch, Mexico may activate its IMF credit line, borrowing up to 88 billion dollars immediately.

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