Suchergebnisse

The past two decades Macedonia has gone through the process of transition which is still shaping the social, political and economic ambience in the country. The initial transitional recession has inter alia manifested salient effects on the labour market performance. Macedonia is among rare countries, where the unemployment rate during the whole period of transition hovers above 30%. Even though there is some criticism regarding the accuracy of the Macedonian unemployment rate estimated by the Labour Force Survey it is still evident that we are facing an odd phenomenon. By using the Keynesian terminology, the Macedonian labour market experiences a suboptimal equilibrium assumed as a state where significant part of resources are not utilised or underutilised. We argue that this suboptimal equilibrium to great extent is result of the alternative labour market adjustment mechanisms that mitigate the high and sustained unemployment. These mechanisms cushion the social implications of unemployment by absorbing a part of unemployed workforce and/or providing additional incomes for households that enables their basic subsistence. One form of adjustment mechanism among the unemployed workers are emigration and remittances that provide the necessary income support for the households. In this paper we make an attempt to identify the role of emigration and remittances as income support for unemployed workers. For this purpose we use results from the survey carried on a representative sample of registered unemployed workers in Macedonia. Furthermore, we estimate an econometric model that reveals the relevant factors that influence intention to emigrate. Finally, we formulate appropriate policy measures that target emigration and remittances in order to improve the labour market functioning and to provide the necessary conditions for balanced economic development.

En el contexto de un ajuste continuado de los mercados de trabajo de la UE en respuesta a la gran recesión y la crisis de la deuda soberana, el Sistema Europeo de Bancos Centrales (SEBC) llevó a cabo la tercera ola de la encuesta de la Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) entre 2014 y 2015, como continuación de las dos olas previas realizadas en 2007 y 2009. Esta encuesta recopiló información sobre las prácticas de fijación de salarios a nivel de empresa para 25.000 empresas en 25 países europeos con el objetivo de evaluar cómo las empresas europeas ajustaron los salarios y el empleo en respuesta a las diversas perturbaciones económicas y reformas laborales que tuvieron lugar en la Unión Europea (UE) entre 2010 y 2013. Este documento resume los principales resultados de esta tercera ola de la encuesta de la WDN identificando algunos patrones en los ajustes realizados por las empresas y el impacto de las reformas del mercado de trabajo. El objetivo es esbozar las principales lecciones aprendidas de la encuesta tanto en relación con la respuesta agregada de los mercados de trabajo de la UE a la crisis como sobre la heterogeneidad entre los distintos países europeos ; Against the backdrop of continuing adjustment in EU labour markets in response to the Great Recession and the sovereign debt crisis, the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) conducted the third wave of the Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) survey in 2014-15 as a follow-up to the two previous WDN waves carried out in 2007 and 2009. The WDN survey collected information on wage-setting practices at the firm level. This third wave sampled about 25,000 fi rms in 25 European countries with the aim of assessing how firms adjusted wages and employment in response to the various shocks and labour market reforms that took place in the European Union (EU) during the period 2010-13. This paper summarises the main results of WDN3 by identifying some patterns in firms' adjustments and labour market reforms. It seeks to lay out the main lessons learnt from the survey in terms of both the general response of EU labour markets to the crisis and how these responses varied across the countries that took part in the survey

This paper analyzes how the labor market adjusts to the Great Recession. To this aim, we use the data for Latvia, a country that has experienced one of the most severe recessions in Europe and a subsequent remarkable recovery. Employing longitudinal EU SILC data and a panel data set constructed by us from various waves of the Latvian Labour Force Survey (LLFS), we estimate worker transitions between labor market states. Labor market adjustment takes place predominantly at the extensive margin since it is driven by flows from permanent wage employment to unemployment. We also show that older, non-Latvian and above all less skilled workers are especially hard hit by the economic crisis. Estimated transitions between four mutually exclusive occupational groups demonstrate that downward mobility is very limited even during the Great Recession. Finally, wage regressions suggest that job mobility is not associated with increased labour productivity during and immediately after the crisis.

This paper analyses the economics of EU enlargement from three perspectives. First, we provide an institutional background and point out the importance of Agenda 2000. Second, we then analyse the implications for EU trade with Central and Easter European Countries (CEEC's) and in particular we discuss the EU Antidumping legislation and its implications for trade integration between the EU and CEEC's. Third, we engage in an analysis of the implications of economic integration for the EU labour market. To this end, we use a unique firm level survey of 281 Belgian firms. Our findings suggest that: (i) the EU follows a too restrictive approach to trade integration; (ii) economic integration with CEEC's leads to a reduction in the demand for low-skilled labour in small firms, however, this effect is reversed for large firms.

This paper analyses the economics of EU enlargement from three perspectives. First, we provide an institutional background and point out the importance of Agenda 2000. Second, we then analyse the implications for EU trade with Central and Easter European Countries (CEEC's) and in particular we discuss the EU Antidumping legislation and its implications for trade integration between the EU and CEEC's. Third, we engage in an analysis of the implications of economic integration for the EU labour market. To this end, we use a unique firm level survey of 281 Belgian firms. Our findings suggest that: (i) the EU follows a too restrictive approach to trade integration; (ii) economic integration with CEEC's leads to a reduction in the demand for low-skilled labour in small firms, however, this effect is reversed for large firms.

This paper analyses the economics of EU enlargement from three perspectives. First, we provide an institutional background and point out the importance of Agenda 2000. Second, we then analyse the implications for EU trade with Central and Easter European Countries (CEEC's) and in particular we discuss the EU Antidumping legislation and its implications for trade integration between the EU and CEEC's. Third, we engage in an analysis of the implications of economic integration for the EU labour market. To this end, we use a unique firm level survey of 281 Belgian firms. Our findings suggest that: (i) the EU follows a too restrictive approach to trade integration; (ii) economic integration with CEEC's leads to a reduction in the demand for low-skilled labour in small firms, however, this effect is reversed for large firms.

The past two decades Macedonia has gone through the process of transition which is still shaping the social, political and economic ambience in the country. The initial transitional recession has inter alia manifested salient effects on the labour market performance. Macedonia is among rare countries, where the unemployment rate during the whole period of transition hovers above 30%. Even though there is some criticism regarding the accuracy of the Macedonian unemployment rate estimated by the Labour Force Survey it is still evident that we are facing an odd phenomenon. By using the Keynesian terminology, the Macedonian labour market experiences a suboptimal equilibrium assumed as a state where significant part of resources are not utilised or underutilised. We argue that this suboptimal equilibrium to great extent is result of the alternative labour market adjustment mechanisms that mitigate the high and sustained unemployment. These mechanisms cushion the social implications of unemployment by absorbing a part of unemployed workforce and/or providing additional incomes for households that enables their basic subsistence. One form of adjustment mechanism among the unemployed workers is the employment in the informal sector that provides the necessary income support for the households. Generally, the informal sector in transition countries is marked by a number of peculiarities which make informality in transition distinct from that observed elsewhere. Although, the informal economy may take different forms and is difficult to measure it is characterised by strong entrepreneurial dynamism. In this paper we will make an attempt to identify the profile of the unemployed workers that undertake various forms of entrepreneurial activities in the informal sector. For this purpose we will use results from the survey carried on a representative sample of registered unemployed workers in Macedonia. Furthermore, we will estimate an econometric model that will assist in the process of identification of relevant factors that influence the entrepreneurial activities in the informal sector. Finally, we will formulate appropriate policy measures that will target the informal sector in order to provide the necessary conditions for transferring the informal businesses to the formal sector of the economy.