Shifting the Beveridge curve: What affects labour market matching?

This article explores short‐run determinants of the matching between labour demand and supply by identifying shifts in the Beveridge curves for 12 OECD countries between 2000Q1 and 2013Q4. Using three complementary methodologies (visual examination, cointegration techniques and non‐linear estimations), we find that labour force growth and employment protection legislation reduce the likelihood of outward shifts, and the higher the share of employees with intermediate levels of education and the long‐term unemployment, the more difficult the matching process. Active labour market policies (such as incentives for start‐ups or job‐sharing programmes) could facilitate matching, while passive policies (unemployment benefits or labour taxation) make matching significantly more difficult.     

Les déterminants des déplacements de la courbe de Beveridge (et de l'appariement sur le marché du travail)

Les auteurs s'interrogent sur les politiques et facteurs qui influent sur la correspondance entre offre et demande de travail. Ils repèrent d'abord les déplacements de la courbe de Beveridge dans douze pays de l'OCDE (2000–2013) – avec trois méthodes complémentaires – avant de les expliquer avec un modèle à variable dépendante limitée. L'analyse montre que la croissance de la population active et la législation protectrice de l'emploi facilitent l'appariement, à l'inverse des qualifications moyennes et du chômage de longue durée. De même, l'effet favorable des politiques actives (partage d'emploi, aide à l'entrepreneuriat) contraste avec un effet nettement défavorable des politiques passives (allocations chômage, imposition du travail).     

Maternal activism in comparative perspective: Past,present, and future

This essay offers a comparative assessment of past and present contributions to the study of maternal activism within feminist scholarship broadly understood while also providing some thoughts about its future directions. While typically defined as adopting a maternal frame to pursue a social or political cause, this essay posits maternal activism as an evolving and contested field of inquiry. I start this analysis by discussing early critiques of motherhood as a patriarchal institution within liberal feminism and other competing frameworks that conceive maternalism as a distinct modality of thought and action. I then underscore the evolving character of the field by examining scholarly works on Black, Indigenous, and Latin American maternal activism. Building upon past and present analyses, and in line with their evolving character, I formulate a provisional definition of maternal activism as a caretaking function sustained through direct action inside and outside the household and beyond that activist-scholars interested in exploring future directions of maternal activism can engage and re-envision. This essay contributes to existing analyses by highlighting the transformative character of maternal activism scholarship.