Gender equality and economic complexity

This study is the first attempt to examine the influence of gender equality on economic complexity. Specifically, we investigate the effects of four aspects (employment, health, education, rights) of gender equality with 20 variables in an economic complexity index. To deal with potential endogeneity, we used the two-step system–generalized method of moments approach with an unbalanced panel of data on 119 economies from 1991 to 2017. First, labor participation in industry or service sectors as well as wage and salaried employment by women appears to improve economic complexity, while women’s employment in agriculture, contributions to family workers, self-employment, and vulnerable employment have a negative impact. Second, better health conditions for women increase economic complexity. Third, gender equality in education has a positive impact on economic complexity. Fourth, the empowerment of women in terms of socioeconomic-political rights is a positive factor for economic complexity. Overall, gender equality has great benefits for economic complexity.     

Managing the locals: employee relations in South Asian restaurants

This paper examines the management of employee relations in South Asian firms in the UK independent restaurant sector. Key working practices pertaining to the employment relationship are examined in a particular socio-economic and spatial context. Acknowledging such contexts facilitates an appreciation of how ethnicity and employment relations interact, rather than abstracting culture from the material context in which it operates. Consistent with this analytic focus, a mixed embeddedness perspective (Kloosterman et al. 1999) is adopted which recognizes the importance of both economic and social aspects of ethnic minority entrepreneurship. A qualitative methodology, drawing upon 23 case histories (involving both employer and employee perspectives) is deployed. The indications from this research suggest that the employment relationship is an outcome of the fluid interaction of social, economic and geographical contexts. This renders problematic both culturalist and purely economic approaches to ethnic minority entrepreneurship. Future research should carefully consider how the employment relationship is influenced by its embeddedness within specific communities.     

Economic and Social Correlates of Re-Employment Following Job Displacement

Abstract . The purpose of our study is to examine the economic and social correlates of re‐employment following job displacement. Our data are taken from 247 workers who were displaced as a result of plant closures in Ontario (Canada). Human capital did not affect re‐employment. Economic need positively affected re‐employment. Discrimination negatively affected re‐employment, and social networks positively affected re‐employment. Our conclusion falls squarely within the field of economic sociology, in that an economic outcome can have both an economic and a sociological explanation.     

Happiness in transition: An empirical study on Eastern Europe

This paper analyzes the determinants of life satisfaction in a pooled data set of representative individual survey data from seven East European countries collected during the early phase of economic and political transformation using ordered logit models. Those core socio-demographic and economic variables relevant in the US and West European countries have a similar impact on happiness in Eastern Europe under conditions of dramatic economic, political, and social change. The individual effects of variables across countries are not statistically different from the results obtained from the pooled data set. Cross-country differences in aggregate happiness can be explained well by variations in the unemployment rates, the degree of political freedom and the human development index.     

“人职匹配”式就业指导工作的设计与实现

近年来高校应届毕业生每年接近700万人,就业压力明显增大。做好高校毕业生就业工作,关乎经济升级、民生改善和社会稳定。就业是民生之本。因此,要采取有效措施,切实保障毕业生就业水平不降低、有提高。根据"人职匹配"的相关理论,高校应对当代大学生的就业指导工作进行系统设计并坚持从实际出发,通过职业测评、职业探索、职业认知等活动,使广大毕业生实现"人职匹配"。     

国外中小企业融资特点及借鉴

我国的中小企业已经成为拉动经济增长、增加国家税收、推动自主创新、稳定城镇就业的重要企业群体,然而,这样一个在经济社会生活中占据重要地位、做出重要贡献的群体,却长期受困于融资难问题。本文旨在具体分析国外中小企业融资特点及融资困境,阐述国外中小企业融资的先进经验,为解决我国中小企业融资提供借鉴。     

Sustainability performance analysis of small and medium sized enterprises: Criteria,methods and framework

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in any economy as they contribute to GDP and employment. However, sustainability (right combination of economic, environmental and social) of SMEs is a major concern as they prioritize economic performance over environmental and social to remain competitive. Majority of prior researches on SMEs' sustainability either look at the impact of a few limited enablers (e.g. lean, green, innovation etc.) on sustainability performance or the effect of pressures and barriers on the sustainability performance. There is a clear gap of a holistic and robust framework for sustainability performance analysis in order to measure and improve sustainability performance. This research bridges this knowledge gap by addressing two research questions – what practice and performance criteria are being considered for sustainability performance analysis in a broad environmental, economic and social context, how are they related, and what methods are being used to derive the relationship between sustainability practices and performance. These research questions are addressed through a systematic literature review of 58 papers, published between 2005 and 2018 in leading journals. First, an objective content analysis is undertaken in order to identify sustainability practices and performance criteria along with their frequency of usage in prior research. Second, the correlation among the variables is studied. Third, the methods for analyzing the relationships of the criteria are identified. Finally, a framework for analysing correlation of SMEs’ sustainability practices and performance in order to measure and improve performance using statistical modeling approach is proposed.     

Quantifying entrepreneurship and its impact on local economic performance: A spatial assessment in rural Switzerland

Regional and rural development policies in Europe increasingly emphasize entrepreneurship to mobilize the endogenous economic potential of rural territories. This study develops a concept to quantify entrepreneurship as place-dependent local potential to examine its impact on the local economic performance of rural territories in Switzerland. The short-to-medium-term impact of entrepreneurship on the economic performance of 1706 rural municipalities in Switzerland is assessed by applying three spatial random effects models. Results suggest a generally positive relationship between entrepreneurship and local development: rural municipalities with higher entrepreneurial potential generally show higher business tax revenues per capita and a lower share of social welfare cases among the population, although the impact on local employment is less clear. The explanatory power of entrepreneurship in all three models, however, was only moderate. This finding suggests that political expectations of fostering entrepreneurship to boost endogenous rural development in the short-to-medium term should be damped.     

The SAM and Beyond: Open,SESAME!

The revised 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) contains a chapter on social accounting matrices (SAMs), demonstrating that the input-output approach should be extended to a matrix presentation of a wider set of national accounts. This article describes the application of that chapter to the case of Indonesia, and elaborates on the linkage of a SAM to all kinds of supplementary (non-monetary) data sets. This should yield a system of economic and social account-ing matrices and extensions (SESAME), i.e. a consistent meso-level information system from which major economic and social macro-indicators can be derived. By way of example, detailed employment figures that belong to a SESAME for Indonesia are presented.     

The spatial impact of employment centres on housing markets

The spatial impact of employment centres on housing markets. Spatial Economic Analysis. Local economic growth tends to affect neighbourhood house prices unevenly. It has been observed that prime locations experience price hikes far in excess of the surrounding local area. Yet, this phenomenon is not well captured by existing economic models. This research provides a model of spatial and temporal interactions between housing and employment markets. The results show that rapid growth of employment centres increases house prices in neighbouring locations even after adjusting for fundamentals. It is concluded that spatial clustering of companies creates an option value for existing and potential employees that goes beyond ease of access for commuting purposes.     

Structuration of precarious employment in economically constrained firms: the case of Dutch agriculture

Precarious employment practices such as short‐term contracts, low pay and lack of voice have undesired outcomes for workers, because these impede employees in their ethical rights to freedom, well‐being and equality. Still, precarious employment practice is common in sectors with restrained economic conditions, such as Dutch agriculture. However, in every restrained industry, examples of more socially responsible employment management are reported. The question why some firms develop more socially responsible employment systems when economic conditions predict the use of low cost, precarious employment systems is central in this article. Structuration theory provides a lens to understand how employers position their employment practice in the wider (institutionalised) social context. Insight in the reproduction circuits that link employers' actions with their social context (product, market, institutions and policies, demographics) can reveal where, at a sector level, change to avoid unethical employment practice could start.     

A cointegration approach to modeling human capital formation,self-employment,and economic growth: evidence from Pakistan

This study aims to empirically investigate the dynamics of relationship among human capital formation, self-employment (SE), and economic growth in Pakistan. Using quarterly data of primary school enrollment, SE, and GDP per capita, we employed ARDL bound testing approach to cointegration covering the time span of 1995–2010. We found that in the long run, primary school enrollment, high school enrollment and SE have significant impact on economic growth. Enrollment in primary schools (EP) has a strong positive and significant impact on economic growth, whereas enrollment in high school has a relatively small positive and significant impact on economic growth in the long run in Pakistan. Further, SE has a small, positive and significant impact on economic growth in the long run. In short run, enrollments in high schools and SE have weak positive impact on economic growth whereas, EP has a strong positive and significant impact on economic growth in Pakistan. Further it is found that that there is unidirectional long run causality from self employment to economic growth followed by the bidirectional short run causality between economic growth and high school enrollment, GDP per capita and primary school enrollment, high school enrollment and primary school enrollment.     

The subordination of the gender equality objective: the National Reform Programmes and ‘making work pay’ oplicies

The streamlining of the Lisbon strategy has introduced new integrated guidelines for economic policy and employment strategy and a new report format––the National Reform Programme. In the first year of this new reporting mechanism, Member States have paid less attention to gender mainstreaming and gender equality objectives, not least because the gender equality guideline has been removed. Streamlining has further exposed the narrow and instrumental focus on gender equality measures in the Lisbon process as a means of raising the employment rate rather than a broader concern for equal opportunity. This narrow gender equality approach also dilutes the efficacy of the economic and employment policies that are advanced. Some positive steps to advance gender equality continue to be taken, but the reforms are partial, uneven and coexist with negative developments. We illustrate this with an evaluation of the policy trajectory in relation to the ‘making work pay’ agenda for low‐waged workers (tax/benefit reform, minimum wages, childcare and parental leave). We conclude that this latest reform to the Lisbon process has exposed the enormous amount of political work and capacity building that is needed to mainstream gender issues across the whole field of economic, employment and social policies.     

Social networks,employment and worker discouragement: Evidence from South Africa

Social networks are increasingly being recognized as having an important influence on labour market outcomes, since they facilitate the exchange of job related information. Access to information about job opportunities as well as perceptions about the buoyancy of the labour market depend critically on the social structures and the social networks to which labour market participants belong. In this paper, we examine the impact of information externalities generated through network membership on labour market status. Using Census data from South Africa, a country characterized by high levels of unemployment and worker discouragement, we adopt an econometric approach that aims to minimise the problems of omitted variable bias that have plagued many previous studies of the impact of social networks. Our results suggest that social networks may enhance employment probabilities by an additional 3–12%, and that failure to adequately control for omitted variables would lead to substantial over-estimates of the network co-efficient. In contrast, the impact of social networks on reducing worker discouragement is much smaller, at between 1 and 2%.     

提升边境少数民族地区高校毕业生就业竞争力的思考

大学生"就业难"已成为影响社会稳定与经济发展的重要因素。本文对高校毕业生就业竞争力的内涵做出合理界定,寻找制约边疆少数民族地区高校毕业生就业竞争力的因素和应对办法,达到提高本校毕业生就业率和提升就业质量的目的。     

The evolution of Japanese management: lessons for U.S. managers

To find the key to the success of Japanese economic performance since World War II, Marsland and Beer explore five main "environmental" factors used by Japanese firms to build a successful human resources management approach: Japanese social values, the structure of private enterprise, the structure of labor markets, the historic development of the Japanese employment system, and the structure of Japanese management. This discussion shows that post-war Japanese management, faced with rapid change, introduced new concepts and techniques that reinforced and maintained certain social values and traditions that fit well with human resources management objectives. This skillful blend of new ideas with traditional values enabled the Japanese to achieve superior economic performance.     

Fairness – up to a point. Assessing the impact of New Labour's employment legislation

Since 1997 there has been a significant extension in the legal regulation of the employment relationship reflecting social and economic policy objectives. This article summarises key findings from research into the impact of this legislation and identifies factors affecting legislative impact and employer compliance. Tensions and priorities in the pursuit of the twin policy objectives are discussed.     

关于失业问题的思考

当前社会,失业是一个较为普遍的国际性问题,中国在建立社会主义市场经济体制和二元经济结构转换过程中,特别是20世纪90年代后期以来,也出现了严峻的就业压力。文章在深入分析我国失业现状的基础上,认为我们应该根据中国国情,制定促进就业的经济发展战略和积极的就业政策,以有力促进我国经济社会协调发展。     

A Pluralist Alternative: Mexican Women,Migration, and Regional Development

This works explores the current phenomenon of Mexican migration and its relation to the female head of household phenomenon of rural migrant communities from a pluralistic approach to economic development. This study emphasizes the role that women can play in the development of Mexican rural communities, a region where the impact of free market policies has exacerbated the historical conditions of poverty and marginalization, and consequently, the increase of migration to the United States. The impact of women, if given the opportunities, is crucial to enhance development in the region. Women must be empowered through the provision of employment and included in the economic policy agenda.     

Employment,Social Mobility and Neighbourhood Effects: The Case of Sweden

In science and in society at large, there is a big debate going on about the existence and potential impact of ‘neighbourhood effects’. The dominant question is: does the social composition of the neighbourhood have specific positive or negative effects on the career prospects of those who are living there? We seek to contribute to this debate by investigating the relationship between individual social mobility and the social composition of the residential environment. For that purpose we analysed new longitudinal Swedish data, which is available at the individual level. We particularly focused our attention on the employment careers of individuals in relation to the levels of employment or unemployment in their individual environments. Environment effects on social mobility were isolated, controlling for relevant variables that were available at the individual level. We were also able to control for changes in the environments over time. Individual longitudinal data could be used over the period 1991–9. The analyses revealed that their environment appears to have a moderate yet clear impact on the employment prospects of unemployed individuals. The academic relevance of the article is in its contribution to the theoretical underpinnings of the human–environment relationship; the societal relevance is to the area‐based policies and the housing policies aimed at social mixing, which are currently being developed in many places in the Western world.