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Labour-Intensive Industrialization in Global History (Routledge Explorations in Economic History #59)
by Gareth Austin Kaoru SugiharaThe prevailing view of industrialization has focussed on technology, capital, entrepreneurship and the institutions that enabled them to be deployed. Labour was often equated with other factors of production, and assigned a relatively passive role. Yet it was labour absorption and the improvement of the quality of labour over the course of several centuries that underscored the timing, pace and quality of global industrialization. While science and technology developed in the West and whereas the use of fossil fuels, especially coal and oil, were vital to this process, the more recent history has been underpinned by the development of comparatively resource- and energy-saving technology, without which the diffusion of industrialization would not have been possible. The labour-intensive, resource-saving path, which emerged in East Asia under the influence of Western technology and institutions, and is diffusing across the world, suggests the most realistic route humans could take for a further diffusion of industrialization, which might respond to the rising expectations of living standards without catastrophic environmental degradation.
Labour Law (Law in Context)
by Hugh Collins Keith Ewing Aileen McColganLabour Law offers a comprehensive and critical account of the subject by a team of prominent labour lawyers, and includes both collective labour rights and individual employment rights. By placing the law in its social, economic and political contexts, and showing how the law works in practice through case-studies, students will acquire not only a good knowledge of the law but also an appreciation of its importance and the complexity of the issues. Fully updated with recent developments in the field, the text's clear structure, logical chapter organisation, and uncluttered text design combine to make it a truly accessible way into the subject. Suitable for undergraduates and postgraduates studying UK Labour and Employment law, this book is a must-read for those wishing to excel in the field.
Labour Law
by Hugh Collins K. D. Ewing Aileen Mccolgan Hugh Collins K. D. EwingBuilding on their successful cases and materials book, Collins, Ewing and McColgan present an entirely restructured and freshly written new textbook on employment law. Comprehensive and engaging, it combines detailed analysis and commentary on the law with short contextual extracts to fully equip the labour law student. Carefully balancing clear exposition of legal principles with critical and scholarly analysis, this is the definitive textbook on the subject written by the UK's foremost employment law scholars. The book's 20-part structure maps logically onto either a full or half module employment law course. Chapter introductions and conclusions and an uncluttered text design carefully guide the student through the material. Innovative case studies show the law 'in action' and discussion of the globalised workplace gives the work a contemporary feel. Put simply, this is required reading for all students of the subject.
Labour Law and Off-Shore Oil (Routledge Library Editions: Transport Economics #13)
by Jonathan S. KitchenEconomically and politically, North Sea oil very quickly became of vital importance to Britain. But very little serious attention was paid to the problems of the men working out on the rigs, and certainly none to their legal problems: they had been working in a kind of legal ‘no man’s land’. This informative and critical book, first published in 1977, represents a new and exciting approach to labour law looks closely at the way in which the law applies to workers out on the rigs and at the way it regulates the various aspects of their employment. More than that, it looks at the context in which the law is applied, a dynamic industry operating within severe physical, economic and political constraints, showing not only how the law came to be shaped, but also how its provisions are but one example of the employment process and which mirror changing moods and standards.
Labour Law and the Person: An Agenda for Social Justice (Bristol Studies in Law and Social Justice)
by Lisa RodgersThis book aims to revitalise the link between social justice and labour law through exploring the issue of personhood and the 'subject' of the law. Rodgers argues that incorporating a more 'relational' notion of self into labour law not only provides a fresh normative perspective through which to evaluate existing labour laws, but will also make us more able to respond to labour market 'shocks' and labour market change into the future, including the introduction of AI. It is only by embedding relationality into our law that can we really respect the humanity of workers and construct a legal framework through which social justice can be achieved at work.
Labour Law Reforms in India: All in the Name of Jobs (Critical Political Economy of South Asia)
by Anamitra RoychowdhuryLabour market flexibility is one of the most closely debated public policy issues in India. This book provides a theoretical framework to understand the subject, and empirically examines to what extent India’s ‘jobless growth’ may be attributed to labour laws. There is a pervasive view that the country’s low manufacturing base and inability to generate jobs is primarily due to rigid labour laws. Therefore, job creation is sought to be boosted by reforming labour laws. However, the book argues that if labour laws are made flexible, then there are adverse consequences for workers: dismantled job security weakens workers’ bargaining power, incapacitates trade union movement, skews class distribution of output, dilutes workers’ rights, and renders them vulnerable. The book: identifies and critically examines the theory underlying the labour market flexibility (LMF) argument employs innovative empirical methods to test the LMF argument offers an overview of the organised labour market in India comprehensively discusses the proposed/instituted labour law reforms in the country contextualises the LMF argument in a macroeconomic setting discusses the political economy of labour law reforms in India. This book will interest scholars and researchers in economics, development studies, and public policy as well as economists, policymakers, and teachers of human resource management.
Labour Managed Firms and Post-Capitalism (Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy)
by Bruno JossaMarx claims that unselfishness is a child of (workplace) culture, whereas the gene is selfish. If Marx is right then the prerequisite for overthrowing capitalism is a system which both leverages selfishness and creates solidarity between workers. This book illustrates and discusses the major points of the economic theory of producer cooperatives, its evolution since the 1950s, and links with Marxian theory. Labour Managed Firms and Post-Capitalism, most importantly, demonstrates that a system of producer cooperatives offers a wealth of advantages compared to capitalism. There is general agreement that the main benefit of this form of economic democracy is that people who are allowed to freely pursue their interests are happier than those acting on somebody else’s instruction. The author argues that a system of democratic firms would eradicate classical (high-wage) unemployment and scale down both Keynesian and structural unemployment levels. He also shows that a system of producer cooperatives literally reverses the capital-labour relationship typical of capitalism and that its establishment can consequently be looked upon as a revolution. This volume is of great interest to academics, lecturers and researchers with an interest in Marxism, political economy and industrial economics, as well as economic theory and philosophy.
Labour Market and Fiscal Policy Adjustments to Shocks
by Nombulelo Gumata Eliphas NdouThis book focuses on the implications of the South African labour market dynamics including labour market reforms and fiscal policy for monetary policy and financial stability. Evidence suggests there are benefits in adopting an approach that coordinates labour market policies and reforms, fiscal policy, price and financial stability. In particular, the benefits of coordinating policies present policymakers with policy options in cases where they are confronted by binding policy trade-offs and dilemmas, such as in cases when there is divergence in price and financial and economic growth outcomes. The empirical insights and policy recommendations are based on different techniques that include the counterfactual and endogenous-exogenous approaches, non-linearities introduced by thresholds and the impact of persistent and transitory shock effects. Themes covered in the book include various aspects of labour market conditions and reforms and their link to inflation and inflation expectations, the impact of the national minimum wage, the interaction between public and private sector wage inflation, economic policy uncertainty and employment, government debt thresholds, sovereign yields and debt ratings downgrades, labour productivity, the impact of inflation regimes on expansionary fiscal and monetary policy multipliers, the increase in government cost of funding on price and financial stability and the link between fiscal policy and credit dynamics.
Labour Market Economics (Routledge Revivals)
by D SapsfordFirst published in 1981, Labour Market Economics develops the basic economic theory of introductory courses within the context of labour market analysis and applies it both to particular features and special problems of the subject. The author begins by outlining the nature of the area and the structure of the UK labour market at the time, and proceeds to explain and elaborate the tools of theoretical analysis. These are then applied in subsequent chapters to a variety of issues, including the economic analysis of trade unions, collective bargaining and the effects of unions, unemployment, wage inflation and the inequality of pay. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed on the economic theory of the labour market and the role of empirical work in testing its predictions, and wherever available, evidence from studies of the UK labour markets is cited.
Labour Market Efficiency in the European Union: Employment Protection and Fixed Term Contracts (Routledge Studies In The European Economy Ser. #No.6)
by Thomas Kruppe Ralf Rogowski Klaus SchömannThe deregulation of labour law in the European Union was thought to be a spur to lasting growth of employment and an increase in labour market efficiency. This book reveals that the results of such policies have been far from those expected.This study provides a country by country overview of the legal regulations concerning employment protection a
Labour Market Evolution: The Economic History of Market Integration, Wage Flexibility and the Employment Relation
by George Grantham Mary MacKinnonHow have modern labour markets developed? Both labour economists and economic historians agree that it is necessary to look at labour markets in their historical context. Labour Market Evolution does just this. The contributors examine the operation and development of labour markets in Western Europe and North America since 1500. They address the key questions in this complicated process using new quantitative evidence. First, how closely connected were geographically distant labour markets? Second, how flexible were markets in the past - did wages change in response to demand shocks? Did workers move across space and occupations in response to cyclical or seasonal conditions. Third, were relationships between employees and employers short-term or long-term? Why did relationships change, and what were the implications for the flexibility and integration of markets? In examining these factors, this volume draws on modern labour economic theory and up-to-date quantitative techniques to show how current traditions and systems have evolved.
Labour-Market Flexibility and Individual Careers
by Simone R. KirpalWith labour markets across the world and even in social democratic Europe in a state of unprecedented flux, this exhaustive study addresses the problem of how to balance job market demands, personal career interests and private life becomes a central issue for millions of employees. So how do modern work and employment arrangements restructure individual careers and what is required of individuals in order to manage career transitions successfully over time? This is one of very few in-depth empirical studies to analyze how labour market trends, organisational change and the subjective work orientations of individuals interact. The author's detailed assessment is based on a comparison of the structural contexts, work orientations and employment histories of nurses and ICT technicians in Germany and the UK. These two core service occupations, as well as the national contexts of the two European nations, have quite different working environments and vocational traditions. Nursing is an institutionalized semi-profession with clear criteria of qualification and career continuity, while information and communication technology (ICT) is a new, evolving field with varied skill backgrounds and high job mobility. To arrive at an understanding of how individual career trajectories are changing, this book closely examines the interplay of labour market demands, employees' work and career orientations and the development of their skills. It records the ways in which employees adapt to increased labour market flexibility, which, on the one hand, induces discontinuities of careers, employment and work, and on the other, generates new skill requirements and learning expectations, as well as unforeseen opportunities.
Labour Market Flexibility and Pension Reforms
by Karl Hinrichs Matteo JessoulaIncreasingly flexible labour markets and reforms of old-age pension systems are still ranking high on the political agenda of European countries. This volume investigates whether, and to what extent, the interplay between pension reforms and the spread of 'atypical' employment patterns and fragmented careers has a negative influence uponeconomic security in old age. The volume, therefore, analyzes the flexibility-security nexus by focusing on the post-retirement phase, thus extending the conventional narrow concept of 'flexicurity'. The book also questions whetherreforms of public and private pension schemes compensate or aggravate the risks of increasingly flexible labor markets and atypical employment careers after retirement? Around this overarching research question, the various contributions in the volume employ the same analytical framework in order to map, and then compare, the developments in seven European countries - Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and the UK which present different labour market arrangements and various degrees of flexibility, as well as diverse pension systems.
The Labour Market Impact of the EU Enlargement
by Francesco Pastore Floro Ernesto CaroleoUntil recently, regional labour market imbalances were considered transitory phenomena caused by state failure in yielding distorted investment incentives and by labour market rigidities. Labour mobility and wage flexibility were at the core of the debate over the causes of and cures for regional imbalances. This book bears witness to the changed perspective of research. For instance, in the recent literature, internal migration is depicted as a cause of further geographical divergence. The book contributes to the debate by presenting important new findings on: a) the reasons why structural change in some sectors causes a slump in some regions; b) the extent to which poverty traps explain spatial imbalances; c) the degree of convergence across EU countries and regions; d) the role of labour mobility in Central and Eastern Europe; e) and the role of pro-active employment schemes and child care facilities in alleviating the hardship of the weakest segments of the population.
Labour Market Institutions and Productivity: Labour Utilisation in Central and Eastern Europe (Routledge Studies in Labour Economics)
by Micha 322 Beata Wo 378 Niak-J 281 Chorek PilcThis book explains the role of formal labour market institutions in keeping the labour utilisation in Central and Eastern Europe above the level characteristic for Western European states. It provides an innovative and enriching take on labour utilisation at large and how various formal labour market institutions can affect the ongoing trend in labour utilisation in a way that is not covered by the extant literature. The impact of labour market institutions on labour market outcomes is analysed throughout 12 chapters, both from a cross-country perspective and in detailed case-studies, by 21 labour market experts from various CEE countries. Most chapters are based on empirical methods yet are presented in an easy-to-follow way in order to make the book also accessible for a non-scientific audience. The volume explores three key questions: How can labour utilisation be increased by labour market institutions? Which CEE countries managed to create a labour market institutional framework beneficial for labour utilisation? How should the labour market institutions in CEE countries be reformed in order to increase labour utilisation? The book argues that the legacy of transition reforms and a centrally planned past is still relevant in explaining common patterns among CEE countries and concludes that increasing the stock of skills accumulated by the employed and improving utilisation of these skills seems to be the first-best solution to increase labour utilisation. The book will be of interest to post-graduate researchers and academics in the fields of labour economics, regional economics, and macroeconomics as well as scholars interested in adopting an institutional analysis approach. Additionally, due to the broader policy implications of the topic, the book will appeal to policymakers and experts interested in labour economics.
Labour Market Policies in the Era of Pervasive Austerity: A European Perspective
by Sotiria TheodoropoulouThis book investigates the changing patterns of labour market and unemployment policies in EU member states during the period since fiscal austerity took hold in 2010 during the deepest postwar recession in Europe. Looking at the big European picture, do we see a convergence or a divergence in labour market and unemployment policy trends and outputs? Has labour market insecurity increased or decreased and can these changes be associated with the observed changes in labour market policies and macroeconomic conditions? Written by leading experts in the field, the book provides detailed national case studies from across the EU, which span labour market regimes and intensities of fiscal pressures to explore whether, and if so how, retrenchment or expansion have taken place across different types of labour market policies and how these changes have been distributed across the well-protected and the less well-protected labour market populations.
Labour Market Theory: A Constructive Reassessment (Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy)
by Ben FineThis book is a commanding assessment of labour market theory across the social sciences. It provides a radically original critique of labour market theory, which draws constructively but critically on existing literature. The work: * contributes to the debates on key issues in labour economics such as unemployment, gender, equal pay and the minimum theory * illustrates the policy implications in empirical studies * supplements existing orthodox labour market theory texts.
Labour Markets and Identity on the Post-Industrial Assembly Line
by Anthony LloydAs a product of its time, the call centre utilises new developments in telecommunications and information technology to offer cost-efficient delivery systems for customer care. Efficiency, productivity and flexibility are all embodiments of neoliberal market capitalism and are all personified in the call centre operation, as well as the structure of the labour market in general. Thus the individual and the workplace are embedded in a variety of global processes. In order to frame the context in which call centre operations exist today and their employees (mainly young men and women) negotiate the increasingly risky and individualised task of developing an identity or sense of belonging in the world, Labour Markets and Identity on the Post-Industrial Assembly Line sets out the economic, social and political changes over the last three decades that have restructured the labour market, altered the balance between labour, management and the state, and unleashed global market capitalism upon previously sheltered areas of the economy and social life in both Britain and elsewhere. This ground-breaking book offers one of the first real qualitative sociological investigations of a relatively new form of employment, to see what life is like on the 'post-industrial assembly line', whilst also taking a close look at the nature of class, identity and subjectivity in relation to young people coming of age in a world dramatically altered over the last three decades.
The Labour Markets of Emerging Economies
by Sandrine Cazes Sher VerickThe past few decades have witnessed the economic and geopolitical rise of a number of large middle-income countries around the world. This volume focuses on the labour market situations, trends and regulations in these emerging economies.
Labour Markets Under Different Employment Conditions (Routledge Library Editions: Work & Society)
by D. Boddy N. Jones D. I. Mackay J. Brack J. A. DiackOriginally published in 1971, this wide-ranging study illuminates many crucial wage and employment issues by examining the operation of local labour markets and by testing labour market theory against the observed behaviour of employers and employees in different labour market environments. It is based on an empirical investigation of engineering plants both in major conurbations and in smaller labour market areas. There is an emphasis on measurement and quantification, which provides a fund of information on such subjects as wage structures, labour turnover, recruitment and mobility, internal labour markets, manpower forecasting, apprentice training and redundancy. The authors outline the weaknesses of applying economic theory to labour market behaviour.
Labour Migration: The Internal Geographical Mobility of Labour in the Developed World (Routledge Library Editions: Labour Economics #10)
by James H. Johnson John SaltFirst published in 1990. This edited work brings together a collection of studies, by an international team of contributors, on inter-urban migration, which is largely dominated by labour migration. The structure of the book reflects the interaction of the supply and demand of labour and the information flows that make this possible. The book offers a multi-dimensional analysis of labour migration, including behavioural, economic and institutional approaches. It combines various scales of analysis, including the national scale, the occupational scale and the household scale. The study also examines labour migration in a variety of national contexts. It will be of particular value to professional geographers, economists and sociologists with an interest in the distribution of population and the labour force, planners with responsibility for the development of policy and some final year graduate students.
Labour Migration and Social Development in Contemporary China (Comparative Development and Policy in Asia)
by Rachel MurphySince the mid-1980s, mass migration from the countryside to urban areas has been one of the most dramatic and noticeable changes in China. Labour migration has not only exerted a profound impact on China’s economy; it has also had far-reaching consequences for its social development. This book examines labour migration in China, focusing on the social dimensions of this phenomenon, as well as on the economic aspects of the migration and development relationship. It provides in-depth coverage of pertinent topics which include the role of labour migration in poverty alleviation; the social costs of remittance and regional, gender and generational inequalities in their distribution; hukou reform and the inclusion of migrants in urban social security and medical insurance systems; the provision of schools for migrants’ children; the provision of sexual health services to migrants; the housing conditions of migrants; the mobilization of women workers’ social networks to improve labour protection; and the role of NGOs in providing social services for migrants. Throughout, it pays particular attention to policy implications, including the impact of the recent policy shift of the Chinese government, which has made social issues more central to national development policies, and has initiated policy reforms pertaining to migration.
Labour Migration, Human Trafficking and Multinational Corporations: The Commodification of Illicit Flows (Routledge Transnational Crime and Corruption)
by Ato Quayson Antonela ArhinAlthough much literature on human trafficking focuses on sex trafficking, a great deal of human trafficking results from migrant workers, compelled - by economic deprivation in their home countries - to seek better life opportunities abroad, especially in agriculture, construction and domestic work. Such labour migration is sometimes legal and well managed, but sometimes not so – with migrant workers frequently threatened or coerced into entering debt bondage arrangements and ending up working in forced labour situations producing goods for illicit markets. This book fills a substantial gap in the existing literature given that labour trafficking is a much more subtle form of exploitation than sex trafficking. It discusses how far large multinational corporations are involved, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation. They explore how far corporations are driven to seek cheap labour by the need to remain commercially competitive and examine how the problem often lies with corporations’ subcontractors, who are not as well controlled as they might be. The essays in the volume also outline and assess measures being taken by governments and international agencies to eradicate the problem.
Labour Migration in Europe
by Georg Menz Alexander CaviedesExamining the new realities of economic immigration to Europe, this book focuses on new trends and developments, including the rediscovery of economic migration, legalization measures, irregular migration, East-West flows, the role of business and employer associations, new positions amongst trade unions, and service sector liberalization.
Labour Migration in Europe Volume I: Integration and Entrepreneurship among Migrant Workers – A Long-Term View
by Francesca Fauri Paolo TedeschiIn this book, Fauri and Tedeschi bring together contributions that outline the movement of job seekers and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in Europe, to analyse the overall impact of different forms of migration on European economies in the last 100 years. Contributions address a broad range of themes, from the motivations of migrants and the process of their integration into their destination country, to their overall social and economic impact onto said country at a structural level. In addressing questions as to why some ethnic groups seem to compete more successfully in business, as well as addressing questions about how skilled labour can be attracted and retained, this volume forms part of a very important multidisciplinary dialogue on labour migration. The policy implications of answering such questions are also discussed, as contributors ultimately examine whether skills-dependent migration policy needs to form part of a common strategy, either at a national or an international level.