Photographs of young generations on the Dutch labour market

In the light of the decline of “standard” employment relationships in many countries and its particular effect on young people, this article provides a detailed analysis of the labour market trajectories of early-career workers in the Netherlands between 1985 and 2014, adopting the approach of the sequence analysis of life-course events. Using two indicators for instability (entropy and turbulence), the authors find that cohorts that entered the labour market after 2000, and particularly in 2008, experience greater employment status instability despite the flexicurity policies applied. Transitions into stable employment are the exception rather than the rule.     

Competing for seafaring labour: Social security and agency employment in Chinese shipping

This paper discusses one strategy that Chinese crewing agencies adopt to compete with each other in the global seafarer labour supplying market. This strategy is related to Chinese seafarers’ social insurance participation. It shows that crewing agencies utilised a dual workforce – ‘company-owned seafarers’ and ‘externally hired seafarers’. Externally hired seafarers, though in precarious employment, are offered higher salaries in place of social insurance coverage. By contrast, company-owned seafarers are paid less, though enjoy social insurance arranged by agencies. This strategy serves to segment the seafarer labour market, conceal the level playing field and help agencies recruit seafarers cost-effectively, though in violation of labour rights. This paper argues that this strategy grows out of the competitive landscape co-shaped by the national regulatory and institutional settings and the global structure of the shipping industry.     

Youth earnings and labour market volatility in Europe

The authors provide new evidence on youth earnings and labour market volatility, including flows into and out of employment, across Europe during the Great Recession. EU‐SILC data for the period 2004–13 reveal large disparities in volatility levels and trends across European countries. As expected, the Great Recession increased youth labour market volatility, offsetting the trends observed over the previous years of economic prosperity. A variance decomposition exercise points to greater exposure to worker turnover in southern Europe. Fixed effects regression on labour market institutions relates higher unemployment benefits and more stringent employment protection legislation to lower earnings and labour market volatility.     

Recession,austerity and gender: A comparison of eight European labour markets

The collapse in GDP brought about by the global economic crisis in 2008 affected female employment less than male employment, whereas austerity has been particularly harsh on women, a gendered impact described in the literature as “he‐cession to sh(e)‐austerity”. This article analyses gendered trends in the labour markets of eight European countries, decomposing quarterly changes in labour participation of women and men and in employment by sector. The “he‐cession to sh(e)‐austerity” scenario is not observed in all countries. Other channels through which austerity policies can jeopardize gender equality and women's rights are identified with reference to a typology of such policies.     

Education and occupational status in 14 countries: the role of educational institutions and labour market coordination

This article explores the role of national institutional factors – more specifically, the level of skill transparency of the education system and labour market coordination – in accounting for cross‐national differences in the relationship between education and occupational status. Consistent with previous research, our findings suggest that skill transparency is the primary moderator. Countries with a highly transparent educational system (i.e., extensive tracking, strong vocational orientation, limited tertiary enrolment) tend to be characterized by a strong relationship between education and occupational status. These findings hold even after controlling for the level of labour market coordination. Nevertheless, we also find that labour market coordination plays an independent role by dampening the effect of education on occupational status. Taken together, these results suggest two quite different policy implications: (1) strengthening the skill transparency of the education system by increasing secondary and tertiary‐level differentiation may strengthen the relationship between education and occupation, regardless of the level of coordination, and (2) increasing labour market coordination could lead to improved social inclusion and a reduction in inequalities related to educational attainment.     

Social networks and labour market outcomes in a meritocracy

This paper examines the significance of personal contacts in job searches, in the context of Singapore's meritocratic system. I show that in certain sectors, such as the state bureaucracy, social networking brings no distinct advantages as appointments are made exclusively on the basis of the academic credentials of the candidates. Thus, personal contacts are not always useful, especially in labour markets that rely heavily on the signalling role of academic credentials to match persons to jobs and allocate rewards. In contrast, personal contacts are more useful among less qualified job searchers in the private sector.     

Quality of employment in Latin America: Theory and evidence

Historically, the development literature concerned with Latin American labour markets has focused on job numbers and productivity. But given the persistence of large shares of informal and now otherwise precarious employment, the authors argue that meaningful analysis also requires consideration of the implications of occupational status for the quality of employment. Based on empirical evidence from recent decades, they conclude that most dimensions of this concept – including social protection – depend on the conclusion of a written contract of employment. This finding leads them to outline policy options for stabilizing formal employment and securing adequate funding for social protection.     

Segregation,ethnic labour market and the occupational expectations of Palestinian students in Israel

Using data from a large national representative survey of Palestinian high school students in Israel, this study examines the effect of the local labour market and the internal ethnic/religious segregation between Muslims, Christians and Druze, on students' occupational expectations. The data, which were collected in spring 1997, consisted of two types, these being data regarding students, and data regarding schools. The findings show that despite the disadvantages of the Palestinian minority as a whole within Israeli society, students tend to develop high occupational expectations. While the general level of their expectations can be explained by their educational and residential segregation from the Jewish majority, the multi-level analyses suggests that the internal segregation facilitates differential access to socio-economic resources, which generate different levels of occupational expectations between students from various ethnic/religious groups. More specifically, the findings demonstrate that the social and economic differences between Muslims, Christians and Druze are playing a central role in determining students' expectations, acting as a mechanism to preserve social inequality. The gender dimension of the occupational expectations and the influence of die segregation between Palestinian and Jewish students, are also discussed.     

Off-farm labour decision of Canadian farm operators: Urbanization effects and rural labour market linkages

Understanding the factors affecting off-farm labour decisions of census-farm operators has significant implications for rural development and farm income support policy. We examine the off-farm labour decisions of Canadian farm operators using micro-level data from the 2001 Census of Agriculture combined with community level data from the 2001 Census of Population. While confirming some of the findings of previous research with respect to the effects of human capital and farm characteristics on off-farm work participation, this study shows the differential impact of those variables for operators of smaller and larger holdings. Family, community and regional characteristics appear more relevant in determining the joint decision to work off-farm and operate a smaller holding, compared to the decision to work off-farm and operate a larger farm. Results suggest that, once other factors are accounted for, proximity to urban centres does not have a positive effect on the joint decisions to participate in off-farm work and to operate a holding. This joint decision, in fact, is more related to the dynamics of the local labour market. A major implication of these findings is that while urban centers might represent an engine of growth for overall rural income through employment opportunities for the non-farm workforce, the non-farm income of farm operators is more likely to be affected by policy initiatives that address directly the dynamics of labour markets in the community where the operator lives.     

The imprudence of labour market flexibilization in a fiscally austere world

This article assesses the effects of combining fiscal austerity with policies aimed at reducing labour costs and, in doing so, sheds new light on current policy debates. Taking a global perspective, the authors explore the aggregation problem by proposing a stylized analytical macro‐model with explicit distribution dynamics. In this framework, flexibilization policies that suppress the labour share trigger global feedbacks that result in a downward spiral, with contraction even in export‐led economies. The initial gains of more competitive economies are shown to be ephemeral. In the long term, the world economy is essentially wage‐led and responds positively to coordinated Keynesian stimuli.     

Remittances and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Mexico

The effects of remittances on labour market outcomes have been studied by many researchers, primarily using micro‐level data. While a few studies have also used macro‐level data, they suffer from endogeneity bias due to the inclusion of remittances in their estimations. The present study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by using a set of panel data of Mexican states and by addressing the endogeneity bias with a system GMM (generalized method of moments) estimator. The main conclusions are that remittances increase labour force participation rates and reduce median hours worked, critical employment and unemployment duration.     

The labour market flexibility debate in India: Re‐examining the case for signing voluntary contracts

A major focus of India's ongoing policy debate over labour market flexibilization has been the statutory requirement that firms employing 100 or more workers cannot dismiss employees without prior government permission. The case for repealing that requirement (or greatly increasing the workforce threshold) is notably underpinned by Basu, Fields and Debgupta (2009). Here, the author challenges their particular theoretical argument for hiring and firing at will based on the voluntary signing of contracts, demonstrating that their general policy conclusion is logically unsustainable even within the framework of that model. The case for labour market flexibilization through voluntary contracting thus remains unfounded.     

Does deregulation decrease unemployment? An empirical analysis of the Spanish labour market

Spain underwent two major labour reforms in 2010 and 2012 under the assumption that deregulating the labour market and decentralizing collective bargaining would automatically reduce unemployment (deregulation hypothesis). This article highlights the impact of demand and the sectoral structure of the economy to explain the behaviour of this variable (structural hypothesis). Analysing subnational panel data, the authors assess the capacity of these two hypotheses to explain unemployment trends. Their results cast doubt on the deregulation hypothesis and indicate the importance of cyclical and structural factors.     

The fallacy of the lump of labour theory: Evidence for Latin America

In a context of population ageing, this article analyses the “lump of labour” theory using empirical evidence from Latin America. Instead of finding a crowding-out effect, estimations using a fixed effects model on a panel of annual data drawn from household surveys in 11 countries between 2002 and 2019 suggest a positive correlation between the employment rates of older adults and young people. Additionally, results show a positive association between the labour incomes of older and young workers. These findings could indicate that an expansion in the employment of older adults maintains economic growth and, therefore, a greater demand for labour, which could be supplied by young people.     

Addiction and intrapersonal externalities in the labour market

This paper attempts to model individual decision-making with respect to alcohol consumption as an intrapersonal game among different temporal selves. A temporal self’s decision regarding alcohol consumption is shown to affect the utility of other selves. This externality gives rise to a potential co-ordination problem. The co-ordination problem may lead to the existence of multiple intrapersonal equilibria which are Pareto rankable. The analysis of alcohol addiction is likely to yield very different conclusions when based upon such a framework as compared to Becker and Murphy’s (1988) rational addiction approach. For example, the reinforcement process characterising addiction emerges not because of the increased marginal benefits associated with alcohol consumption, but rather due to the decreased marginal productivity in the production of substitute commodities. The reasons for the persistence of addictive behaviour and potential for recovery are explored and the effect of depression on addictive consumption is illustrated.     

Racial discrimination in Britain, 1969–2017: a meta‐analysis of field experiments on racial discrimination in the British labour market

Field experiments represent the gold standard for determining whether discrimination occurs. Britain has a long and distinguished history of field experiments of racial discrimination in the labour market, with pioneering studies dating back to 1967 and 1969. This article reviews all the published reports of these and subsequent British field experiments of racial discrimination in the labour market, including new results from a 2016/17 field experiment. The article finds enduring contours of racial discrimination in Britain. Firstly, there is an enduring pattern of modest discrimination against white minorities of European heritage in contrast to much greater risks of discrimination faced by the main non‐white groups, suggesting a strong racial component to discrimination. Secondly, while there is some uncertainty about the magnitude of the risks facing applicants with Chinese and Indian names, the black Caribbean, black African and Pakistani groups all face substantial and very similar risks of discrimination. Thirdly, there is no significant diminution in risks of discrimination over time either for Caribbeans or for South Asians as a whole. These results are broadly in line with those from the ethnic penalties literature, suggesting that discrimination is likely to be a major factor explaining the disproportionately and enduringly high unemployment rates of ethnic minorities.     

Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labour

The distinction between de jure and de facto regulation is well understood in theory, but has rarely been applied to cross‐country empirical work on the impact of labour regulation on labour market outcomes for lack of data. Policy debate has been based on measures of stringency of law, suggesting a negative correlation between labour regulation and labour market outcomes. This article provides new cross‐country measures of labour law enforcement and evidence of a negative correlation between stringency and intensity of enforcement. Previous results concerning the consequences of labour regulation and the legal origins theory no longer hold when a measure of effective labour regulation is used.     

Child labour: A hidden form of child abuse

There is a widespread but hidden area of child abuse: child labour. One-fifth of the world's population is linked with child labour; yet it receives very little or no attention throughout the world. Where is our sense of urgency? Poverty is the repeatedly cited reason for child labour. This is an oversimplification. The origins of the problem are multi-faceted. involving such variables of development as culture, human rights, economy, population, indigenous people and environment. It is the existing paradigm of development, determined by the elite, which is responsible for the problem of child labour. Obviously, the shift from the ‘need’-based economy to the ‘want’-based economy has taken a heavy toll of children the world over. We need to forge partnerships of different groups across the world, especially in light of the increasing integration of countries across the globe and because child labour is re-emerging and assuming wide proportions in the developed countries. As we tread the path to a new paradigm of development, we must remember to walk in step with the children. For we have a lot to learn from them, and tomorrow is their concern, as it is their future.     

Investigating the role of multilevel social capital in ethnic income inequality in the Chinese labour market

This study examines to what extent individual- and county-level social capital respectively and jointly explain the Chinese ethnic income inequality. Using two waves of the Chinese General Social Survey data, social capital is operationalised into extensivity, upper reachability, mean prestige, and range via the position generator. Results show that social capital is unevenly distributed along the ethnic line in China, minorities are in disadvantaged position in accessing social capital, especially the number of occupation accessed and mean occupational prestige, compared with Han. When cross-level interactions are taken into account, with the increase of county-level social capital, its positive effect on minorities’ income attenuates while it become stronger for Han’s income. The differential returns of social capital on income between minorities and Han may be attributable to the mean prestige of their accessed position networks. Finally, the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis uncovers that when all variables are controlled for, there is still approximately 24 % of the income gap between minorities and Han remained unexplained, indicating the severe ethnic wage penalty minorities are facing in the Chinese labour market.