Search results

Social dumping has become an important EU issue, yet few studies provide an economic assessment of the potential size of such effects. This paper examines the prospects for social dumping in an era of greater European econ omic integration. Initially the paper docu ments large differences within the E U in the composition of labour costs and labour market regulations, thereby establisbing the potential for social dumping effects. It then considers the development of the differences in em ployers' social security expenditure over the last thirty years and concludes that there appears to be no evidence that high social charge economies have performed poorly during this period. The process of intra-union trade within an European economic and monetary union is then examined and the con clusion is made that further European econ omic integration is unlikely to create signifi cant dumping effects. Differences in productivity levels and the relative importance of direct earnings largely offset the differences m social charges, whilst rncreased specializ ation within the Union reduces direct compe tition between 'low' and 'high' social charge member states. The failure to find evidence of significant social dumping effects does not necessarily imply support for a levelling-up of social welfare provisions in the E U. The final part of the paper addresses this issue, devel oping the proposition that a strengthening of EU social policy may assist the creation of a high skill and high productivity growth con vergence club in the E U.

Nick Adnett and Peter Davies develop an economic analysis of schooling markets, emphasizing both the strengths and weaknesses of orthodox analyses. They explain the economic and social contexts that have generated the widespread desire to reform state schooling and develop a systematic analysis of the key policy components examining both theory and international evidence. The authors employ a unique framework based upon economic analysis that is informed by research performed by educationalists and other social scientists. Markets for Schooling is designed to be accessible and of interest to all researchers, administrators and policy-makers concerned with education and economics.

The transitional process was a multidimensional phenomenon that affected every domain of political, economic, and social life, one consequence in most European transitional countries was growing gender gaps in the labour market. The experience in almost all transition countries, including Macedonia shows that labour markets during transition became less dynamic with a relatively stagnant unemployment pool leading to increased long-term unemployment. The initial 'transitional unemployment' was characterised by a long average duration of unemployment, low probability of exiting unemployment into employment and pronounced labour market segmentation. The dominance of traditional households in South Eastern Europe suggests that men and women may differ in experiencing adverse affects of job loss, as well as in resorting to various coping strategies for unemployment. Below we examine the gender unemployment gap and the determinants of the differences in responses to unemployment between male and female unemployed workers in Macedonia, using a survey carried out on a representative sample of registered unemployed workers. We estimate an econometric model to identify factors that explain gender differences among unemployed workers, such as: personal perception of unemployment status, the role of the alternative labour market adjustment mechanisms and the treatment of unemployed by the policy measures. Finally, we formulate appropriate policy measures that will provide more balanced employment prospects from the gender perspective and improve overall labour market performance.

In attempting to reconcile the objectives of both employment security and labour market flexibility, the 1977 Acquired Rights Directive (ARD) represents the type of social legislation championed in the Treaty of Amsterdam. This article discusses the 20-year history of this Directive in order to examine some of the problems which arise when policy is driven by economic and social objectives which may be mutually inconsistent. In particular, we consider whether the continuing legal confusion associated with this Directive can be, in part, attributed to the conflict between these objectives. This examination concentrates particularly upon the impact of the ARD upon the attempts by EU Member States Government, particularly Britain, attempts to impose market-based reforms upon the public provision of services.