Labour market protection across space and time: A revised typology and a taxonomy of countries’ trajectories of change

We measure and interpret the evolution of labour market protection across 21 high-income countries over three decades, employing as conceptual foundations the ‘regime varieties’ and ‘trajectories of change’ developed by Esping-Andersen, Estevez-Abe, Hall and Soskice, and Thelen. We measure labour market protection considering four institutional dimensions – employment protection, unemployment protection, income maintenance and activation – and the evolution of the workforce composition. This measurement accounts for the joint evolution of labour market institutions, their complementarities and their relation to outcomes, and mitigate the unrealistic Average Production Worker assumption. We handle the multi-dimensional nature of labour market protection with Principal Component Analysis and capture the characteristics of countries’ trajectories of change with a composite score. We contribute to the literature in three ways. (1) We portray a revised typology that accounts for processes of change between 1990 and 2015, and that clusters regime varieties on the basis of coordination and solidarity levels, that is, Central/Northern European, Southern European, liberal. (2) We illustrate that, despite a persistent gap, a large majority of Coordinated Market Economies experiencing a decline in the level of labour market protection became more similar to Liberal Market Economies. (3) We develop a fivefold taxonomy of countries’ trajectories of change (liberalization, dualization, flexibility, de-dualization and higher protection), showing that these trajectories are not always path-dependent and consistent with regime varieties previously developed in the literature.

Economic Migration: On What Terms?

I investigate whether wealthy democratic states should liberalize economic migration and, if so, on what terms. Is it permissible for the state to restrict economic migration as a form of labor market protection? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not? I argue that even granting that states have a right to control their borders and to prioritize the interests of their inhabitants, there is good reason to liberalize permanent low-skilled migration, so long as this is paired with appropriate social policies.

Orphan Drugs, Compounded Medication and Pharmaceutical Commons

Regulatory agencies installed orphan drug regulations to stimulate research and development of new innovative treatments for life-threatening diseases with a low prevalence (rare diseases). We established a list of well-known food-related ingredients with clinical evidence for rare diseases in the open medical literature that obtained marketing authorization as an expensive “orphan drug”, protected by intellectual property (IP) rights. We show that these ingredients are part of an established practice of medicinal compounding—a form of point of care manufacturing. We argue that these ingredients should be considered as “pharmaceutical commons”, and that regulatory incentives for private companies and market protection mechanisms such as IP rights are not justified in this case.

Has the EU Incentive for Drug Repositioning Been Effective? An Empirical Analysis of the “+1” Regulatory Exclusivity

EU law incentivises drug marketing authorisation holders (MAHs) to find new uses for their compounds (research known as “repositioning”) by offering them an extra year of market protection if the new use is authorised. This extra year, known as the “+1”, was enacted on limited evidence, and no study has examined its effect since it began. Yet, several leading commentators suggest lengthening the +1. This study assesses the effectiveness of the +1 by analysing all the relevant instances of MAHs repositioning their drugs before and after the +1 came into effect. The results show that: (i) 42.2% of MAHs repositioned their drugs before the +1 came into effect, and (ii) once the +1 did come into effect, it did not increase the percentage of MAHs that repositioned their drugs. This study finds that the +1 failed to increase repositioning and then proceeds to consider reform options, including repealing the law. In doing so, this study takes the first steps towards an evidence-based policy for the topic.

Relationship between Economic Growth and Unemployment Rates in the Algerian Economy: Application of Okun’s Law during 1991–2019

This paper aims to examine the Algerian economy by applying Okun’s law to study the impact of real GDP on unemployment rates and examine the impact of labour market protection policies on Okun’s coefficients. The annual data on the Algerian economy for the period 1991–2019 were used. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing technique model was used in conjunction with the gap version for Okun’s coefficients. The empirical results show that Okun’s law operates in Algeria’s economy. Coefficients estimated using the gap version led to the conclusion that there was a negative and significant impact of the GDP gap on unemployment rates. Though there was a decline in unemployment as GDP increased, the rise in employment was very weak for each 1% increase in the GDP. These findings should be of significant interest to regulators and policymakers in the Algerian economy, practitioners and academic researchers, international and national investors, managers and any other groups interested in the labour market in the Algerian economy and the labour markets of other developing economies. The paper provides the real GDP’s effect on unemployment rates in Algeria by releasing the gap version for Okun’s coefficient. Also, it provides evidence that increased labour market protection mitigates the adverse effects of a decrease in output growth rate on employment.

Proposed Solutions for Rising Drug Prices

This chapter explores proposed solutions for high drug prices. They include measures to rein in “middlemen” pharmacy benefit managers who may artificially inflate prices; increase generic drug competition to prevent price spikes for older, off-patent drugs; enhance competition for new drugs after brand-name products reach the intended period of market protection; align US drug prices with the lower prices available in other wealthy countries; and leverage the collective bargaining power of government payers to compel drug companies to accept lower prices for their products. Policies that force drug prices down can save money but risk choking off the development of important new advances, limiting patient access to their health benefits. Moreover, the policy solutions typically offered are incremental solutions that will likely put a modest dent in the nation’s $500 billion annual drug bill. Most important, they fail to link a drug’s price to its value.

Consumer Protection in Jordanian Discount Sales: A Comparative Study with the Legislations of France, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates

This article compares consumer protection in the framework of discounts with the constituent elements of such sales and the relevant methods of protecting consumer rights, according to French, Emirati, Jordanian, and Tunisian legislation and judicial practice. The findings shed light on the operation of consumer rights and market protection, and argues that each legal system has developed divergent means to attain the same goal. While some legal systems have organised sales with detailed rules, others have engaged in very limited market intervention; in the latter case, consumers are prevented from enjoying an important set of rights, as consumer rights and market protection are determined by the merchants.

External labor migration in the Russian Far East: issues of crime and labor market protection

В работе дана оценка уровня преступности среди мигрантов в регионах Дальнего Востока России во втором десятилетии XXI века. Показано, что большинство преступлений на Дальнем Востоке совершают граждане из стран ближнего зарубежья, что объясняется преобладанием численности мигрантов данной категории над мигрантами из стран дальнего зарубежья. В зависимости от стран исхода мигрантов меняется структура преступности, а именно: граждане КНР, КНДР, Вьетнама в основном совершают преступления, связанные с нарушением экологического законодательства и в сфере экономической деятельности. Граждане СНГ чаще совершают преступления против жизни и здоровья, общественной безопасности и общественного порядка. Показатели преступности мигрантов в целом не влияют на меры региональной миграционной политики. Основная причина использования ограничений (запретов) на рынке труда в отношении мигрантов из стран СНГ — защита регионального рынка труда и предоставление рабочих мест для местного населения.

Regulation of insurance activities in Russia

In this article, state regulation of insurance activity is aimed at the formation and development of an efficiently functioning insurance services market, protection of the rights and legitimate interests of all subjects of insurance relations.