Minimum wage rates and unemployment in The Netherlands

Summary A static limited dependent variable model is formulated to analyse the Dutch labour market from an individual's viewpoint. Results suggest that high minimum labour costs are an important source of unemployment. Secondly, the reduced-form participation equation is replaced by a neoclassical labour supply equation. Thus, also the effect of high minimum wage rates on employment through labour supply is taken into account. Supply appears to be forward bending and participation is insensitive with respect to unemployment benefits. Simulations suggest that the effect of lowering the productivity threshold by reducing before-tax minimum wages dominates supply effects.The author wishes to thank Geert Joosten, Arie Kapteyn, Peter Kooreman, Bertrand Melenberg, Viji Narendranathan and Theo Nijman for helpful comments and the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics for providing the data. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the policies of the CBS.     

Relocation of state services and regional unemployment in the Netherlands

Summary In addition to the stimulation of the less developed regions in The Netherlands by regional investment subsidies and infrastructural improvement, the Dutch government pursues a relocation policy with respect to government activities. Public institutions have been or are to be moved from the government center of The Hague to less prosperous regions in the north, east and south of The Netherlands. This article describes the main characteristics of the interregional input-output model that has been developed to calculate the employment and unemployment effects of relocation policy. Further the results of some model exercises are given. Three variants are calculated: a central variant in which the migration rate of civil servants is assumed to be equal to the actual observed value of 15% and two extreme variants in which the migration rates are assumed to be 100% and 0% respectively. This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the twenty-second European Congress of the Regional Science Association; Groningen, The Netherlands; 24–27 August, 1982.     

The determinants of unemployment and jobsearch duration in The Netherlands

Summary This study investigates the determinants of individual unemployment and jobsearch duration and the size and direction of duration dependence in a proportional hazard model. New insights into the shape of the time dependence of unemployment duration are obtained using a semi-parametric baseline hazard specification in combination with a parametric (gamma) heterogeneity correction or with a semi-parametric heterogeneity correction. Registration data on unemployed individuals in The Netherlands in the period April 1987–May 1987 are used. For both sexes, the hazard rate quickly rises during the first five months, but then after the fifth month rapidly declines until the end of the first year of unemployment, not showing any clear tendency thereafter. Commonly used parametric specifications for the baseline hazard prove to be too restrictive. For men we discuss the influences of the regressors.We like to thank Simon Kuipers, Theo van de Klundert, Wiji Narendranathan, Mark Stewart and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper     

Overpopulation and unemployment in Zimbabwe

The size of Zimbabwe's African population has grown dramatically over the past 50 years, with 5.7 children on average being born per woman. The following factors are responsible for the rapid population growth in Zimbabwe: the country's economic prosperity during the period of the Central African Federation from 1953 to 1963, and its successful food policy before and after independence; the success of the health system, also in both periods; and the fact that women have not been incorporated into the economy as wage-earners. A brief historical overview is presented, followed by sections on the food policy and health system, reasons for the persistence of large families, and the relationship between wage-earning by women and the birth rate. The author also describes some of the problems caused by overpopulation. Engaging more women in regular wage-earning employment is the key to controlling the birth rate in Zimbabwe. Current government policies encouraging female employment in government services and the economy in general, along with the expansion of contraceptive services, could influence female fertility over the long term.     

Youth unemployment in Northern Ireland

Nearly one tenth (8 per cent) of each cohort of school leavers in Northern Ireland experience long spells of unemployment and inactivity ("Status 0") between the ages of 16 and 18. This is important because many such young people are likely to end up unemployed and long-term unemployed in later life. In Northern Ireland around 15 per cent of the male workforce is unemployed, and around one half of these have been out of work for more than one year. This paper outlines the nature of the Status 0 experience amongst 16 and 17 year olds in Northern Ireland, and discusses three main aspects of policy which might guide the overall policy response in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

Firstly, resources should be targeted carefully towards the most “at risk” young people, especially during the early stages of their progression through compulsory education. Secondly, relevant professionals should ensure that the most marginalised young people are not allowed to fall through the nets of mainstream provision and, in particular, every effort should be made to help young people avoid entering Status 0 immediately after leaving school. Thirdly, consideration should be given to the financial incentives faced by training providers in terms of recruiting low achievers who are at most risk of entering Status 0. There is some evidence to suggest that many of the existing incentives in Northern Ireland are inadequate and, in some cases, may exacerbate many of the problems faced by marginalised young people.     

The unemployment problem

The paper reviews the unemployment problem in Europe. It showsthat while there is a good deal of heterogeneity in Europeanunemployment experience, a 'European model' of high and persistentunemployment characterizes many of the core continental economies,in contrast to the low unemployment experience of the USA. Theexplanation that this difference is due to a common skill-biasedshock interacting with more rigid labour-market features inthe European case is reviewed, as is the suggestion that theEuropean experience is exceptional on account of the more stringentmacro-environment created by devotion to tight monetary policies.The policy outlook is one in which strongly expansionary economicpolicies seem unlikely to be launched and most of the burdenof fighting unemployment will be borne by labour-market reforms;the bad side-effects of these could be cushioned by resort towage subsidies, supporting a 'European' bias in favour of equality.The 35-hour week is judged to be an unlikely remedy.     

Black male unemployment

Public policies intended to raise the wages of unskilled workers, equalize educational opportunity, stabilize employment, and increase imports were sources of the growth of unskilled and, therefore, of black unemployment since 1950. The wartime wage-equalization policy and postwar minimum-wage policies raised the cost of unskilled labor relative to that of capital and of skilled labor. The Fed's inflationary full-employment policy between 1950 and 1970 reduced real interest rates relative to unskilled wages. Subsidies for higher education increased the supply of skilled labor, reducing its cost relative to that of unskilled labor. Trade liberalization increased imports of manufactured goods from developing countries, which displaced U.S. unskilled labor.     

Skills and unemployment

This article attempts to spell out the links which are assumed to exist between skills and unemployment. It is argued that the claims made for the beneficial effects of raising the skill levels of the workforce have been exaggerated. The author then goes on to indicate some of the other factors which influence unemployment levels, and sketches the relevance of this to local economic initiatives.     

白领失业之三大怪象

以往人们认为高学历、地区经济发达、工作经验丰富可以保证其远离失业。但如今,现实情况却恰恰相反,白领失业潮似乎已经来临     

Current unemployment of graduates in China

It is a common phenomenon of current unemployment, especially, among graduates. Through comparison between the historical record and nowadays about unemployment, the conclusion is that each epoch has its unique characters, as well as some uniform points. To realize the issue distinctly, several aspects should focus on： the situation about historical and current unemployment respectively, the reason why it occurs, the negative effects and the solutions.     

Economic crises and unemployment in Russia

This article considers changes in the number of unemployed individuals in conjunction with the dynamics of the production volume in Russia in 1991–2015. An assessment has been given for the quantitative relationship between crisis declines in production and the number of unemployed individuals. Long-term trends determining the dynamics of unemployment under the effect of direct factors of economic growth (labor resources, fixed capital, and scientific and technical progress) have been analyzed.     

Youth unemployment in South Africa revisited

One of the most pressing socio-economic problems of the South African economy is high youth unemployment. Recent studies only briefly examined how youths have fared since the transition by comparing the 1995 October Household Survey with a Labour Force Survey, and hardly investigated whether the discouraged workseekers are different from the unemployed. This paper re-examined youth unemployment trends in the 2008–12 Quarterly Labour Force Surveys, before comparing the characteristics of discouraged workseekers and narrow unemployed. Whether different policies are needed to boost youth employment in each group is also discussed.     

Equity and efficiency in unemployment insurance

Summary This paper is concerned with equity and efficiency in unemployment insurance. It examines the rationales for unemployment insurance, or more generally, social security. It stresses that social security is a second-best solution, since, in practice, taxes that do not distort economic decisions and benefits without moral hazard are impossible. The paper determines a relation between the feasible levels of equity and efficiency,i.e., the output possibilities curve. Three typical views on equity are confronted with this output possibilities curve: the extreme liberal view, the moderate liberal view and the egalitarian view. We construct two output possibilities curves for unemployment insurance in The Netherlands: one curve, assuming that the Dutch labour market is characterized by excess supply and another curve, assuming that the Dutch labour market is instantaneously cleared by flexible wages. The equilibrium model yields substantially higher efficiency costs of Dutch unemployment insurance than the disequilibrium model. Finally, we calculate the output gains of a mini-system of unemployment insurance. Again, the results indicate that much depends on what is in the eye of the beholder.At the time of writing research fellow at the Applied Labour Economics Research Team (ALERT) of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and the Tinbergen Institute. The author thanks an anonymous referee ofDe Economist, Frank den Butter, Bernard Compaijen, Edmond Malinvaud, Christopher Pissarides, Niels Westergaard-Nielsen, Rob van de Wijngaert, Gerrit Zalm and the participants of the ALERT/Tinbergen Institute workshops Modelling the Labour Market (6–8 January 1992 at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) and Dutch Thoughts on Unemployment (18 March 1992 at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) for their useful comments on earlier versions of this paper. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Education and the natural rate of unemployment

We show how changes in the educational composition of the labourforce affect both the level and the behaviour over time of aggregateunemployment series. We also demonstrate that if it had notbeen for such changes, the US unemployment series would look'European' since the within-group unemployment series all havethat same appearance. We derive a natural-rate model of unemploymentfor two education groups, providing microfoundations for inter-groupdifferences in wages and unemployment, and evaluate its plausibilityin light of microeconomic evidence.     

Duration of unemployment in the Dutch youth labour market

Summary This paper is concerned with the specification and estimation of a one-state proportional hazard model to explain the duration of unemployment in the Dutch youth labour market. Special attention is given explaining the unequal distribution of unemployment experiences among young labour force participants. The model is estimated using data from a 1984 national random sample of young people unemployed in May and interviewed in October/November. It is found that the replacement ratio has no significant effect. The predicted youth wage on the other hand is significant. The paper also presents and compares different functional forms for modelling duration dependence and heterogeneity.A more extensive version of this paper was published by the Organisation for Strategic Labour Market Research (OSA) in The Hague as working paper nr. 14, 1985. We wish to thank this organisation for its encouragement and for its financial support. We also wish to thank M. Bom, J. Hartog, T. Manders, E. de Regt and G. Ridder for their comments and help.