Search results for "LABOUR"
showing 10 items of 655 documents
Job attitudes, behaviours and well-being among different types of temporary workers in Europe and Israel
2011
Applying an innovative typology based on preference for temporary em- ployment and perceived employability, the authors empirically examine four types of temporary workers (and a group of permanent workers for comparison). In a sample of 1,300 employees from six countries, they find significant differences between the four types on a broad set of variables - including demographic and job characteristics, attitude and insecurity - but not in life satisfaction and well-being. They conclude with an argument against the equation of temporary employment with low-skilled workers unable to find a permanent job, stressing the valuable implications of more sensitive research for policy-making on fle…
Wage Cyclicality under Different Regimes of Industrial Relations
2010
Since there is scant evidence on the role of industrial relations in wage cyclicality, this paper analyzes the effect of collective wage contracts and of works councils on real wage growth. Using linked employer-employee data for western Germany, we find that works councils affect wage growth only in combination with collective bargaining. Wage adjustments to positive and negative economic shocks are not always symmetric. Only under sectoral bargaining there is a (nearly symmetric) reaction to rising and falling unemployment. In contrast, wage growth in establishments without collective bargaining adjusts only to falling unemployment and is unaffected by rising unemployment.
Flexible Wage Contracts, Temporary Jobs, and Firm Performance: Evidence From Italian Firms
2013
This study focuses on the effects of decentralized wage schemes and temporary forms of employment on firm performance. The effect of monetary incentives on workers' effort and firm performance is a central topic in economics. According to the principal-agent paradigm, firms (the principal) have to link employees' remuneration schemes to any verifiable indicator of performance to avoid opportunistic behavior. The empirical evidence shows that financial incentives have the potential to exert strong effects on indicators of firm performance, such as productivity and worker absenteeism, although the degree of effectiveness of such schemes varies significantly according to the institutional/econ…
The role of Institutions in explaining wage determination in the Euro Area: a panel cointegration approach
2016
Over the last 15 years, the evolution of labor costs has been very diverse across EMU countries. Since wages have important second-round effects on prices and competitiveness, and EMU countries do not have the tool of the nominal exchange rate to correct for such imbalances, understanding the determinants of the wage is a matter of increasing concern and debate. We estimate the equilibrium wage equation for the Euro Area over the period 1995-2011 using panel cointegration techniques that allow for cross-section dependence and structural breaks. The results show that the equilibrium wage has a positive relation with productivity and negative relation with unemployment, as expected. We also i…
Membership duration in a Spanish union : a survival analysis
2013
Background of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004. WP1: Compilation This article presents an analysis of the characteristics that are associated with union membership duration using data from the membership registers of the largest Spanish trade union: Comisiones Obreras (CCOO, Workers' Commissions). Making use of survival analysis techniques, the results indicate that the shortest membership durations and the highest risks of leaving are associated with workers with poor employment conditions, mainly youth and foreigners, as well as those in firms, economic sectors, and territories where the union has a rather weak presence. As workers in these situations represent the majority o…
Choosing to Work? Mothers Return-to-Work Decisions, Social Class, and the Local Labor Market
2015
The aim of this study is to examine the ways in which social class shapes the return-to-work decisions of Finnish working-class and middle-class mothers, and how these decisions are structured by the constraints and opportunities mothers face in the local labor market. The focus of the study is in the local labor market of the city of Jyväskylä. The data consist of two semi-structured focus group interviews of 14 employed mothers of below school-age children. Using the framework of “gendered moral rationalities,” the study shows that there are similarities in mothers’ experiences, while the structural constraints mothers faced when deciding about the timing of returning back to work differ.…
The ‘gig economy’: employee, self-employed or the need for a special employment regulation?
2017
The digital era has changed employment relationships dramatically, causing a considerable degree of legal uncertainty as to which rules apply in cyberspace. Technology is transforming business organisation in a way that makes employees – as subordinate workers – less necessary. New types of companies, based on the ‘on-demand economy’ or so-called ‘sharing economy’ and dedicated to connecting customers directly with individual service providers, are emerging. These companies conduct their entire core business through workers that they classify as self-employed. In this context, employment law is facing its greatest challenge, as it has to deal with a very different reality to the one existi…
Job insecurity in the younger Spanish workforce: Causes and consequences
2012
Abstract The Spanish labor market is currently an example of a flexible labor market. However, it involves a set of detrimental conditions for its workforce, such as lower employability in the labor market and underemployment (i.e. over-qualification and underemployment in time). In this study, we assume that all these conditions promote higher job instability, which is especially serious for the younger population. Hence, the present study aims to examine, on the one hand, how these specific labor conditions affect younger employees' concerns about job loss or job insecurity and, on the other, how this job insecurity can affect their current job performance and the future development of th…
The skill paradox: explaining and reducing employment discrimination against skilled immigrants
2015
Using a social identity theory approach, we theorized that recruiters might be particularly biased against skilled immigrant applicants. We refer to this phenomenon as a skill paradox, according to which immigrants are more likely to be targets of employment discrimination the more skilled they are. Furthermore, building on the common ingroup identity model, we proposed that this paradox can be resolved through human resource management (HRM) strategies that promote inclusive hiring practices (e.g., by emphasizing fit with a diverse clientele). The results from a laboratory experiment were consistent with our predictions: Local recruiters preferred skilled local applicants over skilled immi…
Public sector wage premium and output volatility in the European Union
2018
This study seeks to uncover the role played by the public sector wage premium in explaining the output volatility. Furthermore, the study also explores the factors that might substantiate the cross-country differences in the volatility of the public sector wage premium. Using cross-sectional regression analysis for the European Union countries, the findings indicate that more volatile public sector wage premium is associated with higher fluctuations in the private sector employment and less stable growth. Findings also suggest that volatility of the public sector wage premium tends to be larger in countries with smaller governments and in countries where collective bargaining is the predomi…