Low-skill jobs or jobs for low-skilled workers? An analysis of the institutional determinants of the employment rates of low-educated workers in 19 OECD countries, 1997–2010

Abstract Raising employment has been at the heart of EU strategies for over twenty years. Social investment, by now a widely debated topic in the comparative welfare state literature, has been suggested as a way to pursue this. However, there are only a couple of systematic comparative analyses that focus on the employment outcomes associated with social investment. Analyses of the interdependence of these policies with regard to their outcomes are even more scarce. We empirically analyse the extent to which variation in employment rates within 26 OECD countries over the period 1990-2010 can be explained by effort on five social investment policies. We additionally explore the role of policy and institutional complementarities. Using time-series cross-section analyses we find robust evidence for a positive association between effort on ALMPs and employment rates. For other policies we obtain mixed results. ALMPs are the only policies for which we observe signs of policy interdependence, which point at diminishing marginal returns. Additionally, our analysis demonstrates that the interdependence of social investment policies varies across welfare state regimes. Together, this indicates that the employment outcomes of social investment policies are also contingent on the broader framework of welfare state policies and institutions.

Download Full-text

Institutional determinants of regional diversity of labor market in Poland

Equilibrium ◽

10.12775/equil.2015.007 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 129

Author(s):

Beata Woźniak-Jęchorek

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Unemployment Rate ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Institutional Perspective ◽

Regional Diversity ◽

Institutional Determinants ◽

The Difference ◽

Employment Rates ◽

And Gender ◽

The Impact

The article focuses on regional diversity of the Polish Labor Market from institutional perspective. The Polish Labor Market is geographically diverse in terms of unemployment and employment rates, and also in terms of economic development. At the end of 2013 the difference between the lowest and the highest unemployment rate in the Polish regions was 12.1% (Wielkopolska located in the West Poland has unemployment rate of 9.6% and Warmia - Mazury in the East has unemployment of 21.7%). The question arises whether this difference comes from the structural or institutional sources. The paper describe the character of Polish Labor Market, whereas in the second part, it traces the impact of institutional variables such as real wage, Kaitz index and Gender gap on the regional unemployment rate in 2002–2012 in Poland.

Download Full-text

Retirees and motivation to work by the type of employment contract: impact of the Czech reform

International Journal of Manpower ◽

10.1108/ijm-12-2019-0544 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 595-617

Author(s):

Filip Pertold ◽

Lenka Lakotova

Keyword(s):

Control Group ◽

Retirement Age ◽

Skilled Workers ◽

Employment Contract ◽

Content Type ◽

Percentage Points ◽

Elementary School Education ◽

One Year ◽

Low Educated ◽

Motivation To Work

PurposeIn this paper, the authors analyse a 2010 legal reform in the Czech Republic, which allowed retirees to simultaneously receive regular pension benefits and to work on a permanent contract for a period longer than one year. Previously, concurrence of employment and receipt of retirement benefits were only allowed in conjunction with a temporary work contract with a maximum duration of one year.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ the difference-in-differences method. The authors include only males in the analysis because it is not possible to identify the legal retirement age for women from available data. Men in the workforce 1–3 years prior to the statutory retirement age are in a control group, while men 1–3 years older are in a treatment group.FindingsThe authors show that the reform significantly increased the share of permanent contracts held by retirees (by 22.5–27.6 percentage points), though we do not find any aggregate short-term change in employment of retirees. Heterogeneity analysis shows a significant increase in the employment of retirees with only elementary school education (by 17.9 percentage points) and a significant decrease in the number of hours worked by retirees (by 2.5 h weekly for low-educated workers).Practical implicationsThe policy conclusion is that the regulation of employment contract does not affect aggregate employment, but may improve employment of low skilled workers.Originality/valueTo the authors’ best knowledge, there are no studies directly analysing motivation of retirees by types of employment contracts. The authors, thus, add to the literature that studies dealing with the general fixed-term versus permanent contracts (Engellandt and Riphahn, 2003) and motivation to work.

Download Full-text