scholarly journals The Dynamics of Labour Informality in Brazil, 2003-2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Manzano ◽  
José Dari Krein ◽  
Ludmila C. Abílio

This article examines the evolution of labour informality in Brazil between 2003 and 2019, a period marked by strong political, economic and social inflections. In the first section, we offer a brief reflection on the terms of the historical debate on informality and its relation to the transformations of the Brazilian economy. In section two we describe the remarkable process of labour formalisation that took place in the country between 2003 and 2014, pointing out its exceptionality and principal determinants. In section three, we note the reversal of this formalisation trend. With the recession of 2015–2016, informal and precarious work increased sharply, exacerbated by newly flexible labour laws and the emergence of new precarious labour relations. We conclude that the Brazilian experience in this new century shows that the formalisation of labour relations is strongly related to more general conditions of economic development and the solidity of public institutions. Furthermore, and in contrast to the views held in mainstream economics, initiatives to simplify and ease the regulatory framework appear to coexist with increasing levels of precariousness and informal work. KEYWORDS: labour informality; Brazilian labour market; public policy; labour regulation; gig economy

2012 ◽  
pp. 565-582
Author(s):  
Gojko Rikalovic ◽  
Zaklina Stojanovic ◽  
Zorka Zakic

This paper analyzes the performance of the labour market in the predominantly rural areas of Serbia classified according to the OECD criterion of rurality (<150 inhabitants/km?). The research covers 18 NUTS III areas. The analysis emphasizes the structural problems of the aging population, poor education and unfavourable employment structure in the study area. A survey specifically refers to the consideration of demographic labour market index, directing the public policy actions toward different treatment of different rural areas in Serbia. The specific answer is found in the new approach based on innovativeness and the model of creative rural industrialization.


Author(s):  
James Reveley

This chapter considers the labour relations during the conventional cargo era, twenty years before the introduction of the container industry. Reveley argues in depth that companies that hired watersiders were disempowered by the structure of the labour market. The chapter is divided into subsections as follows: Bargaining Structures; Union Bargaining Strategies; The Employers, Bargaining, and the WIT; The Unions Amalgamate Nationally; Work Relations and Managerial Control Strategies; Management Through the Wages System; Workplace Bargaining Over “Rates”; Informal Work Practices; and Labour Productivity and Costs. The chapter concludes by stating that though employers could individually profit from these circumstances, collectively they were in a worse position than the strengthened unions, and that this status quo, despite bargaining efforts, remained so at the start of containerisation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-364
Author(s):  
GHULAM A. NADRI

AbstractIn the second half of the eighteenth century, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) employed hundreds of Indian sailors in Surat in western India to man its ships plying the Asian waters. TheMoorse zeevarenden(Muslim sailors) performed a variety of tasks on board ships and in the port of Batavia, and made it possible for the Company to carry out its commercial ventures across the Indian Ocean. The relationship between the two, however, was rather complex and even contentious. Based on Dutch sources, this article investigates the political-economic contexts of this relationship, examines the structure and organization of the maritime labour market in Surat, and illuminates the role and significance ofzielverkopers(labour contractors) and of the local administration. The analysis of the social, economic, and familial aspects of the market and labour relations in Surat sheds light on pre-capitalist forms of labour recruitment and the institutional dynamics of the Indian labour market.


2009 ◽  
pp. 38-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ph. O’Hara

In this analytical review the author describes the main trends in the modern heterodox political economy as an alternative to mainstream economics. Historical specificity as well as the contradictory and uneven character of economic development are examined in detail. The author also discusses problems of class, gender and ethnic discrimination and their influence on economic growth. It is shown that there are tendencies to convergence of different theoretical perspectives and schools, common themes, topics of research and conceptual apparatus are being formed. The forces of integration and differentiation help establish new ideas and receive interesting scientific results in such fields as development economics, macroeconomics and international economics.


Author(s):  
Thandekile Phulu

In South Africa employees are protected by various pieces of legislation. Section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 provides for a right to fair labour practice. In its preamble the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (hereafter referred to as the LRA) states that the purpose of the Act is to advance economic development, social justice, labour peace and democratisation of the workplace. The LRA also states that one of its objectives is to give effect to and regulate the fundamental rights conferred by section 27 of the Constitution. The Occupational Health and Safety Act as amended by the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act 181 of 1993 provides for the health and safety of persons at work and for the health and safety of persons in connection with the use of plant and machinery. The LRA provides for dismissal for incapacity and dismissals for misconduct. It also differentiates between the two. The LRA provides for both substantive and procedural fairness when dismissing an employee for incapacity and misconduct. This paper will examine the rationale behind differentiating between dismissal for drunkenness and dismissal for alcoholism.


Author(s):  
Alexandr S. Levchenkov ◽  

The article analyzes the influence of the concepts of the Intermarium and the Baltic-Black Sea Arc on the formation of Ukraine’s foreign policy in 1990 – early 2000. The use of these concepts in American, European and Ukrainian geopolitical thought, which historically included the idea of opposing Russian influence in the region, contributed to the increase in tension and was aimed at further disintegration of the Western flank of the post-Soviet space. The article proves that the design of the Euro-Atlantic vector of Ukraine’s foreign policy was already active under the first two Ukrainian presidents – Leonid Kravchuk (1991–1994) and Leonid Kuchma (1994–2005). One of the concrete attempts to implement the idea of forming a common political, economic, transport and logistics space of the Black Sea-Caspian region with a promising expansion of the cooperation zone to the whole of Eastern Europe and the Eastern Baltic during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma was the foundation and launch of a new regional organization, Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, better known as GUAM (composed by the initial letters of names of member states – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova; when Uzbekistan was also a member of Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, the name of the organization was GUUAM), which is an alternative to Eurasian projects with the participation of Russia.


Author(s):  
Katherine Eva Maich ◽  
Jamie K. McCallum ◽  
Ari Grant-Sasson

This chapter explores the relationship between hours of work and unemployment. When it comes to time spent working in the United States at present, two problems immediately come to light. First, an asymmetrical distribution of working time persists, with some people overworked and others underemployed. Second, hours are increasingly unstable; precarious on-call work scheduling and gig economy–style employment relationships are the canaries in the coal mine of a labor market that produces fewer and fewer stable jobs. It is possible that some kind of shorter hours movement, especially one that places an emphasis on young workers, has the potential to address these problems. Some policies and processes are already in place to transition into a shorter hours economy right now even if those possibilities are mediated by an anti-worker political administration.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110000
Author(s):  
Michele Ford ◽  
Kristy Ward

The labour market effects in Southeast Asia of the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted considerable analysis from both scholars and practitioners. However, much less attention has been paid to the pandemic’s impact on legal protections for workers’ and unions’ rights, or to what might account for divergent outcomes in this respect in economies that share many characteristics, including a strong export orientation in labour-intensive industries and weak industrial relations institutions. Having described the public health measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam, this article analyses governments’ employment-related responses and their impact on workers and unions in the first year of the pandemic. Based on this analysis, we conclude that the disruption caused to these countries’ economies, and societies, served to reproduce existing patterns of state–labour relations rather than overturning them.


Author(s):  
Cristian Barra ◽  
Roberto Zotti

AbstractRegulators should ensure the smooth functioning of the system and promote regional development. Making the health of financial institutions is therefore a prerequisite for a sustainable economic development. This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between the financial stability and growth within the area of one country. This implies that institutional, legal, and cultural factors are more adequately controlled for and financial markets are more accurately bounded. Using a rich sample of Italian banks over the 2001–2012 period, this paper addresses whether different measures of financial distress affect economic development of labour market areas in Italy. Results show that the financial stability has a positive effect on local economic development, robust to alternative variables capturing financial vulnerability. The presence of spatial effects is tested showing that better financial conditions of the banking system in neighbouring areas have a detrimental effect on an area’s growth.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document