scholarly journals COVID-19 AND INFORMAL LABOUR IN CONSTRUCTION: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF WEBINAR DISCUSSIONS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Jayalath ◽  
◽  
K.K.G.P. Somarathna ◽  

Many countries after a remarkable spike in COVID-19 cases, opted to lockdown and quarantine curfew that restricted the movement of people. Construction is one of the main sectors experiencing a clear impact due to COVID-19. As a significant growth driver of the economy, the domestic construction industry employs nearly one million of the population directly in various trades. Unfortunately, almost every project has been severely hampered. It is, therefore, prudent to address the impact of the pandemic on construction labour at the outset and end of the crisis to prepare for any future challenges or opportunities that it may undergo. This study aims to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the construction industry's survival and possible measures to be taken in both the short and the long run. This paper summarizes using a narrative analysis of the key takeaways of 15 webinar discussions on the COVID-19 impact and outlook of the construction sector in Sri Lanka. The impacts and fallouts have been addressed by key industry personnel. The study found the most prominent impacts of COVID-19 are the suspension of projects, labour impact, and job loss, time overrun, cost overrun, and delay in payments. The findings of this study shed light on the consequences of the sudden occurrence of a pandemic and raise awareness of the most critical impacts which cannot be overlooked. The findings also help project stakeholders prepare for any future worst-case scenarios.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Roca-Campos ◽  
Elena Duque ◽  
Oriol Ríos ◽  
Mimar Ramis-Salas

Bullying among peers in schools is a growing problem affecting children and adolescents from an early age worldwide. The consequences of bullying victimization in the emotional development of children and youth and their academic achievement are adverse for them and the rest of the school community, with its negative impact extending into the mid and long run. The Zero Violence Brave Club is implemented in schools in the framework of the Dialogic Model of Violence Prevention, a successful educational action according to the INCLUD-ED project [Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe from Education] (6th Framework Program of Research of the European Commission). The Zero Violence Brave Club has decreased peer bullying in schools by establishing and cultivating a culture of zero tolerance to violence in educational centers located in diverse socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This evidence-based intervention is grounded in the principle that only the person who denounces violence suffered by a peer and takes a stand always on the victim's side—and those who support her or him—against the aggressor can be considered brave. This article reports a qualitative study of the Zero Violence Brave Club as a successful intervention in seven schools in Spain. The schools are diverse in terms of public or private ownership, religious or lay background, and population served (different proportions of cultural minorities and students with special needs), challenging the misconception that the impact of educational interventions depends on the context. Interviews were conducted with teachers in the schools implementing the Zero Violence Brave Club in their class, using the communicative methodology of research. The results shed light on specific mechanisms through which the Zero Violence Brave Club prevents and responds to bullying in schools, such as emptying of social attractiveness any aggressive behaviors or attitudes. Benefits on mental health and psychological wellbeing are also reported.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Yaser Gamil ◽  
Abdulsalam Alhagar

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic, many countries have declared a complete national lockdown after a remarkable spike in COVID 19 cases. These decisions have restricted the movement of people and resulted in a complete shutdown of many businesses across many sectors. The construction industry, as a significant growth driver of the economy with no exception, has also been completely shut down. All the developments and projects were postponed until further notice. It is, therefore, a prudent to address the impact of the pandemic at the outset and end of the crisis to prepare for any future possibility and gain lessons for plans. This study aims to investigate the effect of COVID 19 on the construction industry's survival. The impacts and fallout have been determined and evaluated through the recruitment of construction experts and practitioners. The impacts have been classified into different groups which include economic, human resources. The study implied two methods include exploratory interviews and questionnaire surveys. The study found the most prominent impacts of COVID 19 are the suspension of projects, labour impact and job loss, time overrun, cost overrun, and financial implications. The findings of this study shed light on the consequences of the sudden occurrence of pandemic and raise awareness of the most critical impacts which can’t be overlooked. The findings also help project stakeholders to realise the sequences of the sudden epidemic and prepare for the worst-case scenario during the planning stage of the construction projects.


2002 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-78
Author(s):  
S. Çiftçioğlu

The paper analyses the long-run (steady-state) output and price stability of a small, open economy which adopts a “crawling-peg” type of exchange-rate regime in the presence of various kinds of random shocks. Analytical and simulation results suggest that with the exception of money demand shocks, an exchange rate policy which involves a relatively higher rate of indexation of the exchange rate to price level is likely to lead to the worsening of price stability for all types of shocks. On the other hand, the impact of adopting such a policy on output stability depends on the type of the shock; for policy shocks to the exchange rate and shocks to output demand, output stability is worsened whereas for the shocks to risk premium of domestic assets, supply price of domestic output and the wage rate, better output stability is achieved in the long run.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Huda Arshad ◽  
Ruhaini Muda ◽  
Ismah Osman

This study analyses the impact of exchange rate and oil prices on the yield of sovereign bond and sukuk for Malaysian capital market. This study aims to ascertain the effect of weakening Malaysian Ringgit and declining of crude oil price on the fixed income investors in the emerging capital market. This study utilises daily time series data of Malaysian exchange rate, oil price and the yield of Malaysian sovereign bond and sukuk from year 2006 until 2015. The findings show that the weakening of exchange rate and oil prices contribute different impacts in the short and long run. In the short run, the exchange rate and oil prices does not have a direct relation with the yield of sovereign bond and sukuk. However, in the long run, the result reveals that there is a significant relationship between exchange rate and oil prices on the yield of sovereign bond and sukuk. It is evident that only a unidirectional causality relation is present between exchange rate and oil price towards selected yield of Malaysian sovereign bond and sukuk. This study provides numerical and empirical insights on issues relating to capital market that supports public authorities and private institutions on their decision and policymaking process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (7A) ◽  
pp. 1069-1076
Author(s):  
Layth T. Ali ◽  
Raid S. Abid Ali ◽  
Zeyad S. M. Khaled

Cost overrun in construction projects is a common phenomenon in Iraq. This might occur due to diversity of factors. This study aims to identify the factors influencing construction projects cost that are potentially controllable by main contractors. A field study through a questionnaire survey was directed to a sample of related Iraqi professional engineers from general contracting companies at both public and private sectors. Their opinions on the impact and frequency of each factor were investigated. The questionnaire offered (59) factors classified in (8) categories namely; legislations, financial and economic, design, contractual, site management, material, labor and equipment. The factors were ranked according to the highest Relative Importance Index (RII). The study revealed (10) major factors that are potentially controllable by main contractors namely; labor productivity, sub-contractors and suppliers performance, equipment productivity, site organization and distribution of equipment, experience and training of project managers, scheduling and control techniques, planning for materials supply, planning for equipment supply, materials delivery and planning for skilled labor recruitment. Recommendations to aid contractors and owners in early identification of these factors are also included in this study.


Author(s):  
Jacques de Jongh

Globalisation has had an unprecedented impact on the development and well-being of societies across the globe. Whilst the process has been lauded for bringing about greater trade specialisation and factor mobility many have also come to raise concerns on its impact in the distribution of resources. For South Africa in particular this has been somewhat of a contentious issue given the country's controversial past and idiosyncratic socio-economic structure. Since 1994 though, considerable progress towards its global integration has been made, however this has largely coincided with the establishment of, arguably, the highest levels of income inequality the world has ever seen. This all has raised several questions as to whether a more financially open and technologically integrated economy has induced greater within-country inequality (WCI). This study therefore has the objective to analyse the impact of the various dimensions of globalisation (economic, social and political) on inequality in South Africa. Secondary annual time series from 1990 to 2018 were used sourced from the World Bank Development indicators database, KOF Swiss Economic Institute and the World Inequality database. By using different measures of inequality (Palma ratios and distribution figures), the study employed two ARDL models to test the long-run relationships with the purpose to ensure the robustness of the results. Likewise, two error correction models (ECM) were used to analyse the short-run dynamics between the variables. As a means of identifying the casual effects between the variables, a Toda-Yamamoto granger causality analysis was utilised. Keywords: ARDL, Inequality, Economic Globalisation; Social Globalisation; South Africa


Author(s):  
Aref Emamian

This study examines the impact of monetary and fiscal policies on the stock market in the United States (US), were used. By employing the method of Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) developed by Pesaran et al. (2001). Annual data from the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund, from 1986 to 2017 pertaining to the American economy, the results show that both policies play a significant role in the stock market. We find a significant positive effect of real Gross Domestic Product and the interest rate on the US stock market in the long run and significant negative relationship effect of Consumer Price Index (CPI) and broad money on the US stock market both in the short run and long run. On the other hand, this study only could support the significant positive impact of tax revenue and significant negative impact of real effective exchange rate on the US stock market in the short run while in the long run are insignificant. Keywords: ARDL, monetary policy, fiscal policy, stock market, United States


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
Towaf Totok Irawan

Until now the government and private sector have not been able to address the backlog of 13.5 million housing units for ownership status and 7.6 million units for residential status. The high price of land has led to the high price of the house so that low-income communities (MBR) is not able to reach out to make a home purchase. In addition to the high price of land, tax factors also contribute to the high price of the house. The government plans to issue a policy for the provision of tax incentives, ie abolish VAT on home-forming material transaction. This policy is expected to house prices become cheaper, so the demand for housing increases, and encourage the relevant sectors to intensify its role in the construction of houses. It is expected to replace the lost tax potential and increase incomes. Analysis of the impact of tax incentives housing to potential state revenue and an increase in people's income, especially in Papua province is using the table IO because in addition to looking at the role each sector can also see the impact on taxes (income tax 21 Pph 25 Pph, VAT), and incomes (wage). Although in the short-term impact is still small, but very rewarding in the long run. Keywords: Backlog, Gross Input, Primary Input, Intermediate Input


Author(s):  
Bharti Motwani

Organizations are facing stiff market and other external pulls and pushes, thus HR will become vital source for managing future challenges. HRIS is an information system that makes use of computers to monitor, control, and influence the movement of human beings from the time they indicate their intention to join an organization till the time they separate from it. The purpose of the HRIS is to provide service, in the form of accurate and timely information, to the clients of the system. As there are a variety of potential users of HR information, it may be used for strategic, tactical, and operational decision making (e.g., to plan for needed professionals in a merger), to avoid litigation (e.g., to identify discrimination problems in hiring), to evaluate programmes, policies, or practices (e.g., to evaluate the effectiveness of a training programme), and/or to support daily operations (e.g., to help managers monitor time and attendance of their professionals). However, in order to maximize HRIS success, researchers and practitioners have to know more about its underlying drivers. The study is undertaken looking to the importance of HRIS in the organizations. The paper identifies the factors of HRIS as perceived by professional users. This study is also an attempt to study the impact of designation on identified factors of Human Resource Information System (HRIS). The results of this research will increase researchers comprehension on difference in factors that influence effectiveness of senior and middle-level professionals.


Author(s):  
Dianne Toe ◽  
Louise Paatsch ◽  
Amy Szarkowski

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children who use spoken language face unique challenges when communicating with others who have typical hearing, particularly their peers. In such contexts, the social use of language has been recognized as an area of vulnerability among individuals in this population and has become a focus for research and intervention. The development of pragmatic skills intersects with many aspects of child development, including emotional intelligence and executive function, as well as social and emotional development. While all these areas are important, they are beyond the scope of this chapter, which highlights the impact of pragmatics on the specific area of cognition. Cognitive pragmatics is broadly defined as the study of the mental processes involved in the understanding of meaning in the context of a cooperative interaction. This chapter explores how DHH children and young people construe meaning in the context of conversations and expository interactions with their peers. The chapter aims to examine the role played by the cognitive processes of making inferences and comprehending implicature, within the overall display of pragmatic skills. Further, the authors use this lens in the analysis of interactions between DHH children and their peers in order to shed light on the development of pragmatic skills in children who are DHH.


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