Labour Market Policy and Employment Growth in Sweden

ABSTRACT: In this paper, the author outlines the Swedish employment situation and traces the history of the labour market policy it generated, from its earliest development at the turn of the century, through to the Rehn-Meidner model, and then examines the various reactions and criticisms against it. It goes on to look at the trends and developments of the labour market in the‘80s, and concludes by making a speculative analysis on if and how the labour market policy has had an effect on the participation of various sectors of the population in the labour force, and if it has influenced unemployment in the Swedish labour market.     

Short-Run Wage Flexibility and Labour Market Adaptation in Western Europe

ABSTRACT: This paper starts by reviewing some of the evidence relating to movements in relative wages, asking what have been their causes and whether they serve to allocate labour across labour markets. Much of the research has tended to focus on the statistical sources available, and therefore to focus on movements of pay between industries rather than firms, between occupations, and between workers with different levels of qualification. This has greatly constrained the possibility of linking these different dimensions to look at the ideal question, namely to what extent do relative wages respond to labour supply and demand pressures, and to what extent do they help to reconcile these two pressures. In addition, evidence from studies based on data obtained from individual firms also broadly supports the view that wage differentials are not very responsive to supply and demand pressures, and also that they are mostly not very effective in promoting the adaptation of labour supply and demand across labour markets. The paper ends by considering briefly some recent policy ideas for increasing the responsiveness of relative wages to demand changes.     

在大开发中调整产业结构实现西部地区经济增长

分析了中国西部地区的产业结构,其中重点分析了西部地区的三次产业结构演变和西部地区第二产业的内部结构,并对东、中、西部地区的产业结构趋同状况进行了对比分析。在详尽数据分析的基础上,提出了关于西部地区产业结构调整的几点构想。     

The Impact of Growth,Labour Cost and Working Time on Employment: Lessons from the French Experience

Abstract. In order to account for the evolution of employment at the macro‐economic level, we have developed a model wherein employment is explained by added value, working time and real labour cost. Estimations using quarterly French macro‐economic data are carried out in a multivariate framework for three sets of sectors. We obtain a relationship in which employment rises when there is growth and falls when labour cost or working time rises, in both industrial and non‐industrial sectors. This model then allows retrospective measurement of the contributions of each of the variables with respect to employment inflections since the mid‐1980s.     

Culture and Institutions: Economic Development in the Regions of Europe

Does culture have a causal effect on economic development? The data on European regions suggest that it does. Culture is measured by indicators of individual values and beliefs, such as trust and respect for others, and confidence in individual self determination. To isolate the exogenous variation in culture, we rely on two historical variables used as instruments: the literacy rate at the end of the 19th century, and the political institutions in place over the past several centuries. The political and social history of Europe provides a rich source of variation in these two variables at a regional level. The exogenous component of culture due to history is strongly correlated with current regional economic development, after controlling for contemporaneous education, urbanization rates around 1850, and national effects. (JEL: O10, F10, P10, N13)     

Labour Costs and Employment in the Service Economy

Abstract. In this paper we analyse the direct relationship between the cost of labour and employment in diverse service industries. In contrast to most existing studies, we assume that the tertiary sector is highly differentiated h terms of reactions to both supply and demand factors. The study suggests that we must reasses the relevance of demand factors, but it also confirms that the real cost of labour is a crucial determinant of certain kinds of service employment. Country comparisons have made US sensitive to the fact that the relationship between employment and the cost of labour is far from being globally similar. Each country exhibits behaviour in line with the peculiarities of its labour market.     

中国入世以来经济增长、外贸及FDI对就业的影响

文章建立了关于就业的线性计量模型,并通过中国30个省2002-2006年的面板数据,主要检验了中国入世以来经济增长、外贸、FDI等对于就业的作用。经济增长仍显著促进了就业增加;FDI促进了就业增加,但拉动作用较小,东部与西部的FDI并未显著促进就业;总体上,出口拉动了就业增加,但其作用也不是很大,仅东部的出口显著促进了就业增长;进口显著抑制了国内就业。并在上述分析基础上,提出了相应的政策见解。     

Foreign Direct Investment,Trade, and Skilled Labour Demand in Eastern Europe

In this paper, we study the effects of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade on relative skilled labour demand in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Our estimates show significant heterogeneity in the FDI effect across the three economies: the effect is always significantly positive for Hungary, weakly negative for Poland, and negligible for the Czech Republic. As to trade, we find much more homogeneity in coefficient estimates, which are generally negative for all countries, although significant only in the case of Hungary.     

Communication between Managers and Staff in the NHS: Trends and Prospects

The importance of the role of communication in the success of individual performance in social and business life is now widely recognized. Within organizations, effective internal communication between managers and staff is vital to organizational success. This is particularly so during periods of change, when staff uncertainty increases and there is an increased need for greater amounts of information and more frequent communication. Staff in the NHS have recently experienced some quite dramatic changes in their working practices. This paper therefore examines the current state of communication within the NHS and the implications which this poses for the overall functioning of the organization. In particular, the relationship between communication and the motivation of staff is described. The nature of communication audits, the main research approach used to assesses communication effectiveness, is then delineated, and areas of the NHS chosen for analysis by this means are proposed. The results of a series of audits are summarized. Problems in information flow, use of information sources and channels, the timeliness of information exchanged, the extent to which people send information to each other and the quality of working relationships are identified. The implications of these findings for the NHS and general views of management are considered.     

Investigating Institutional,Economic and Social Determinants of European Regions for Firm Growth Through Employment Generation

This paper examines the influence of the institutional, economic and social characteristics of a region on firm growth through employment generation across 14 European countries for the time period 2010–2013. Theoretically, we utilize the resource‐based view alongside insights from institutional theory to develop a conceptual framework that captures the influence of regional characteristics on firm employment growth. Based on this framework, our empirical results indicate that not only does firm growth depend on the firm‐specific characteristics found in the literature, but regional attributes also significantly impact firm growth in a heterogeneous way for different firm types. In line with the heterogeneous nature of firm growth, our results point to significant differences in the influence of institutional, economic and social characteristics on firm growth in different‐sized groups and across different rates of growth distribution. The implications of our study suggest the importance of managers and policy‐makers realizing which firms are mostly expected to benefit from the external environment, and which in turn can be planned via tailored policy reform by regional governments and firm‐level strategy‐making by managers.     

现代物流与经济增长的关系研究——基于浙江省的实证分析

本文从供给推动、需求拉动两个角度分析现代物流发展与经济增长之间的相互关系,并运用了格兰杰因果检验方法,以浙江省为例对现代物流发展与经济增长之间的双向因果关系进行分析,发现现代物流发展与经济增长之间互为因果,即存在互动关系,浙江省现代物流与经济增长呈现出相互促进、共同发展的良好态势.     

Labour Institutions and Economic Growth: a Survey and a “Regulationist” Approach

Abstract. The paper argues that it is detrimental to assume perfect competition and total flexibility of labour markets in order to understand the intensity and stability of growth. Whereas development theories emphasize the impact of imperfect labour markets, this is not so for modern endogenous growth theories. By contrast, the régulation approaches (in the French meaning) both theoretically and empirically suggest that the transformations in labour institutions might have played a crucial role in the post World War II boom: an unprecedented division of labour associated with long-run labour relations contracts have enhanced the genuine Fordist growth model. Furthermore, international comparisons among OECD countries suggest that job regulations and active minimum wage policies may have created some short-run disequilibria but have stimulated dynamic efficiency, via more technological and organizational innovations. Consequently, this area requires more active researches by labour economists.     

Supply and Price of Childcare and Female Labour Force Participation in the Netherlands

Abstract. The childcare market has been emerging in the Netherlands since the first Child Care Stimulation Act in 1990. The Dutch government has chosen to increase availability and share the costs of childcare between government, employers and parents. We estimate the determinants of Dutch women's decisions to participate in the labour market and the use of paid childcare in 1995. Furthermore, we estimate the effect of the price of childcare on female labour supply. We discuss whether the route that is taken by the Dutch government regarding childcare leads to smaller dead weight losses than in Sweden.     

中国金融发展对经济增长的影响程度分析

论文运用两部门生产函数法研究了中国的金融部门发展、产业部门发展与经济增长的关系,通过实证分析得出了中国经济增长动力主要来源于产业部门的发展,而金融部门对经济增长的贡献很小.     

Trade Union Action and Collective Bargaining in Europe: Trends and Problems

This paper deals with the transformations that have taken place in European countries over the last ten years— the decade of the 80s— in union action and collective bargaining. For the latter in particular the trend towards greater convergence, or to maintain the traditional differences found between the industrial relations systems of one country and another, emerges clearly. The conclusions, moreover, underline the persistence (and the rise during the past years) of safeguards and negotiational contractual mediation, the greater (at least as compared to the previous decade) adhesion of bargaining action to the economic situation, and the determining influence that the various national economies have had on this action, with a rising importance played by the industrial relations of the major firms.     

Taxes and Women in the Labour Force in a Southern European Country: The Case of Portugal

On looking at the female labour supply in Europe, it is immediately noticed that there is a large variation among countries. One possible explanation for this fact is that different countries have different tax policies, leading to variations in incentive and costs. This has been investigated in papers such as that of Gustafsson (1992a,b) for countries such as Germany and Sweden. The same exercise has been performed by the present authors for a low-income, southern European country, Portugal, which has one of the highest rates of female participation (out of line with neighbouring countries). Female labour supply does not seem to be very sensitive to fiscal policies, as those policies have only a small influence on the take-home wage. This result appears to be independent of the fact that the female labour supply shows a higher elasticity to wages than that which has been reported for other countries. The present authors also show that Portuguese women contribute a much larger proportion of family earnings than do their counterparts in Sweden and Germany, and that the Portuguese fiscal system is rather neutral. Further studies with data from other countries are needed in order to shed more light on the issue of tax harmonization.     

能源经济效率、能源环境绩效与区域经济增长

以资本、劳动和能源作为投入变量,以各省份GDP为期望产出变量,以二氧化碳排放量为非期望产出变量,在全要素生产理论框架下,基于DEA方法定义能源利用的经济效率和能源利用的环境绩效两类能源效率指数;运用非径向、非角度的SBM模型测算2000年至2010年中国各省份的能源经济效率和能源环境绩效及其分解指数,分析其演变规律与地区差异性;基于环境库兹涅茨曲线理论实证分析中国能源经济效率和能源环境绩效及其分解指数与区域经济增长之间的关系.研究结果表明,样本期内,中国能源经济效率和能源环境绩效整体水平均较低,地区差异明显,节能减排潜力巨大;能源经济效率和能源环境绩效及其分解指数与经济增长之间存在倒U形或U形曲线关系;产业结构、人口密度、能源结构和外资利用对能源经济效率和能源环境绩效均有显著影响,但是影响机制存在差异.     

Trust and Risk Perception in Western Europe: A Cross-National Study

The relationship between trust and risk perception was investigated, within and across four European countries (Sweden, Spain, United Kingdom, and France). Survey data were collected in 1996; total number of respondents was approximately 1,000 (United Kingdom and Spain), 1,350 (France), and 2,050 (Sweden). Trust was a significant predictor of perceived risk within countries, but the strength of the relationship varied from weak (Spain and France) to moderate (United Kingdom and Sweden). General trust was also a significant source of variation in perceived risk among countries, but much of the variation in perceived risk remained unexplained. Correlations between trust and risk perception also varied depending on the type of risk (i.e., nuclear risks were more influenced by trust) and trust measure (i.e., general trust explained perceived risk better than specific trust). It is concluded that trust may be an element in models explaining risk perception, but it is not as powerful as often argued in the risk perception literature.     

Buy,Keep, or Sell: Economic Growth and the Market for Ideas

An endogenous growth model is developed where each period firms invest in researching and developing new ideas. An idea increases a firm's productivity. By how much depends on the technological propinquity between an idea and the firm's line of business. Ideas can be bought and sold on a market for patents. A firm can sell an idea that is not relevant to its business or buy one if it fails to innovate. The developed model is matched up with stylized facts about the market for patents in the United States. The analysis gauges how efficiency in the patent market affects growth.     

Trade Union Action and Privatisation in Western Europe: Recent Dilemmas*

Abstract. The Author examines the policies of privatisation in Western Europe and the responses made by trade unions. Privatisation seems to induce the trade union movement to shift its emphasis from traditional issues toward new and challenging ones, such as a major co-operation in the management of the privatised companies. Therein, the extension of interest and control by the unions into new areas such as investment, planning, work organisation and design constitute a challenge to trade union core mandate. In some union circles there are fears about unions embracing what appear to be managerial strategies in a period of deep transformation and turbulence. Moreover, according to some union leaders any attempt by the unions to go beyond the “oppositional and defensive role” would result in a confusion and misrepresentation of their members' interests.