Lack of reform will impede Kosovo’s EU bid

Significance The EU and Kosovo signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) in 2015 but Kosovo has not taken the next step, of applying for membership, out of a well-founded fear of rejection. However, February's election has changed its calculations. Impacts To support its application, Prishtina could accelerate efforts in the next few months to meet various benchmarks for reform set by Brussels. A failed application would strengthen Serbia’s position in the status debate by denying Kosovo a chance to consolidate its independence. Kosovo’s low standard of living and high unemployment will continue to push migration to the EU.

Unrest and COVID-19 will reduce South African growth

Significance This chokes off an unexpectedly strong economic recovery in the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, unemployment has hit a record high at 35%, or 47% according to the expanded definition which includes people who have given up looking for work. Impacts Without higher economic growth, the unemployment rate will not substantially improve. The combination of low growth and high unemployment heightens the chance of further violent unrest. The government will have difficulty sticking with debt reduction plans without further dampening growth. Planned reforms in the energy sector could ease some of the country’s electricity woes in the medium term.

Why Don’t Firms Hire Young Workers During Recessions?

Recessions are known to be particularly damaging to young workers’ employment outcomes. I find that during recessions the hiring rate falls faster for young workers than for more-experienced workers. I show this cannot be explained by the composition of jobs or workers’ labour supply decisions, and I conclude that firms preferentially hire experienced workers during periods of high unemployment. I develop a new model of cyclical upgrading that relaxes the classic assumptions of exogenous firm size and rigid wages. I show this model predicts larger log wage decreases during recessions for young workers than for experienced workers, a prediction that is supported by the data. I conclude that policy makers should consider extending unemployment insurance coverage during recessions to new labour market entrants.

Brazil fiscal and welfare spending demands will clash

Significance The economy is at a crossroads: high unemployment and increasing poverty are generating pressures for greater income transfers, but the delicate fiscal position is generating concern about long-term fiscal sustainability. Rising inflation has generated temporary fiscal relief, but for the coming years fiscal indicators are expected to worsen. Impacts Conflicting pressures between welfare spending and long-term fiscal equilibrium will worsen in coming months. The implementation of ‘populist’ policies for purely political purposes may prove unsustainable. Uncertainty about fiscal issues will contribute to deteriorating perceptions about the future of the economy.

The Situation of Puerto Rico in the First Half of the 20th Century

After 390 years of Spanish colonialism, Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain to the United States, as a result of the Spanish-American War and the Treaty of Paris. At the dawn of the 20th century, the situation on the Island was one of extreme poverty, high unemployment, and widespread illiteracy. Federal programs alleviated the situation on the Island but began to institutionalize a major problem: the evil of passively waiting for economic aid from abroad, instead of seeking to solve the problems by its own initiative.

Bridging Troubled Times

The current labor market has produced manifold crises with high unemployment rates and increasing worklife dynamics. Adaptability and identity are metaskills that enable the learning process necessary to overcome obstacles on the career path. The contribution of this review lies in its focus on the question of whether the metaskills of career adaptability and identity can serve to bridge troubled times for everyone in the working population. This review provides a conceptual model of a “decent career” that acknowledges challenging circumstances based on demographic differences (e. g., age, ethnicity, sex) or structural conditions (e. g., economic crisis) and the antecedents necessary to foster individual skills that serve various beneficial outcomes.

Unemployment in South Africa

South Africa has exhibited sustained high rates of open unemployment since the end of apartheid, when reliable statistical measurements became available. The lack of decent employment opportunities contributes to ongoing social and economic inequalities. This chapter examines the reasons behind the country’s high unemployment rates. After a brief analysis of unemployment trends and patterns, it discusses alternative explanations of South Africa’s employment problems, with a focus on structural causes arising from historical and institutional factors. The chapter also examines how policy choices post-apartheid have affected employment outcomes, including macroeconomic policies, trade policies, and labour market policies.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT: EVİDENCE FROM THE TOURİSM INDUSTRY

Purpose: This study intends to explore the link between psychological empowerment (PE) and organizational commitment (OC) with the data obtained from tourism sector employees in Turkey. Accordingly, the goals of the study are: i) To measure the level of OC (affective, normative and continuance commitment) among employees in the tourism sector in Turkey ii) To measure the level of PE (meaning, competence, self-determination and impact) iii) To examine the relationship between PE and OC. To test the proposed relationship, three hypotheses are developed; H1: PE will have a positive impact on affective commitment. H2: PE will have a positive impact on normative commitment. H3: PE will have a positive impact on continuance commitment. Research Methods: Each variable was measured using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5). PE was measured by 12 items developed from the study of Spreitzer (1995). OC was measured by 9 items developed from the study of Meyer & Allen (1997). The data of the study were obtained both through the questionnaire technique via Google form and face to face interviews. Of the 118 respondents 80(68%) were men, and 38 (32%) were women. The majority of the participants (45%) are ranged in age from 17 to 25 years. Of the participants, %31 have üniversity educations and %46 have been working between 3 and 5 years in the company. The majority of the participants have an income ranging from 4001-6000 ? (Turkish Liras) where the net minimum wage is wage for single people is 2,826 ? ($377) a month. Data from 118 employees have been evaulated by using of the SPSS 20.0 program Results and Discussion: The findings of the study reveal that the level of AC (mean = 3,81), NC (mean = 3,53), and CC (mean = 3,82) is moderate among tourism sector employees. Continuance commitment appears to be the highest of the three components of the OC which is not surprising as the respondents of the survey are from Turkey which has high unemployment rate (13,4 percent in February of 2021). In high unemployment work environments employees are likely to exhibit higher levels of CC because of the higher penalty of job loss. In such environments feelings of job insecurity among employees creates an incentive to embrace their current employment and thus they remain loyal and committed to their organization(Shapiro-Stiglitz, 1984). In terms of the correlations between the variables, the results reveal that all of the variables show significant positive correlations. On the other hand the findings indicate employees in tourism sector felt that they are not empowered enough by their organization (mean = 2,65). that the level. This result suggests that although employee empowerment is proved to be a useful tool, managers are resistant to share their power. Overall, consistent with other studies (Joo et al., 2010; Choong et al., 2011; Rawat, 2011; İbrahim, 2020), findings of the study indicate that PE has positive and significant impacts on AC (ß = .31, p< .01), NC (ß = .26, p< .05), CC (ß = .21, p< .05). Therefore it is evident that there is a need to improve the current situation at tourism companies with respect to all the components of the PE which in turn would enhance OC levels of employees. Implications: This research suggests that employees’ empowerment experiences directly affect their commitment level and thus in order generate high degree of OC, the tourism companies should develop training programs to foster managers in understanding appropriate practices and behavior sets that will enhance employee empowerment. However, it is useful to evaluate the results of the research in consideration of some constraints. First of all, the present study is carried out in Turkish companies in the tourism sector and the sample size is quite small. Therefore, one may debate that generalization of the results is questionable. Future research should observe a broader set of in order to identify if any the differences exist in relation to the characteristics of its industry. Researchers should also look to impact of leadership styles, ethical climate, corporate reputation on OC.

How effective are mobility subsidies in targeting the unemployed? Lessons from the Swedish Model, 1965–1975

The Swedish Model on the labor market has been celebrated as a way to combine mobility with low unemployment and small wage gaps. As part of the model, relocation allowances were pioneered from the late 1950s. The program expanded thereafter and as much as 1% of the population in the high-unemployment north moved with assistance in the 1960s. Today, migration incentives are discussed to address pressing unemployment problems in Europe and the United States. What can Sweden’s experience tell us about the prospects of such programs? This article studies the usage of relocation allowances through a case study of Västernorrland County from 1965 to 1975. The analysis shows that there was a strong selection into the program by younger persons, recent graduates and from sectors with good employment prospects. The experience from Sweden highlights the difficulty of implementing programs to induce migration for those with the highest risk of unemployment.