Labor Demand Research Articles

Judicial independence and corporate employment: Evidence from China

We investigate how firms respond to strengthening of judicial independence by examining employment decisions following staggered judicial independence reform in China. We provide robust evidence that the reform leads to salient promotion in employee numbers. Alleviated financing frictions, increased labor demand and improved information quality are three plausible channels that allow independent judicial system to promote corporate employment. Further, we find the reform improves firms’ labor investment efficiency. We estimate that employment effect translates into economically important outcomes in innovation outputs and firm performance. Our paper provides new insights into the real effects of judicial independence on labor allocation and the economy.

The Impact of Banana Consumption on Bangladeshi Rickshaw Pullers' Assessing Cholesterol, Liver and Blood Pressure Functions

Background: The physical demands of labor, such as those performed by rickshaw puller, have a significant influence on food intake. It is hoped that the findings of this study may be utilized as a consideration to maintain the health of rickshaw puller so that they are kept in excellent physical condition. Eating bananas can enhance energy. The study's objective was to find out how well bananas affected cholesterol, liver, and blood pressure functions. Method: Samples for this experimental investigation were gathered from the entire population of 40 people. Before and after eating bananas, their' blood pressure, liver function, and lipid function were measured. In this study, a paired t test was used to analyze the data. Findings: According to the data analysis, there was no discernible variation in the rickshaw pullers' blood pressure and liver function readings before and after consuming bananas (p>0.05). The findings revealed that there was significant discrepancy in the workers' measurements of lipid function before and after consuming bananas (p˂0.05).

Does government investment push up manufacturing labor costs? Evidence from China

China’s labor costs have risen rapidly compared with other emerging market countries in recent years. Government investment is an essential factor pushing labor costs, a unique and exciting phenomenon in China. This paper explains why labor costs in China’s industrial manufacturing industry have rapidly increased from the local government investment perspective. First, the government’s preference for investment in infrastructure construction creates labor demand and drives up labor costs. Second, the improvement of infrastructure lowers the transaction costs of the enterprise sector, thus expanding the scale of production and triggering a rise in labor costs. The empirical results show that for every 1% increase in government investment, the unit labor cost increases by 0.0013 units, and the nominal labor cost increases by 1.443 units. A series of robustness tests support the results. China should rationally control the scale of government investment so that labor costs are in a moderate growth range and then promote the sustainable development of enterprises.

Oligarchy, underutilized capacity, and government policy

We examine an oligarchic economy where only elites can establish firms. In monopolistic competition when the size of the elite is sufficiently small, there is an absolute exclusive equilibrium where wages are driven to the reservation wage. Because of the possession of market power by firms, total equilibrium output is insufficient to warrant the employment of the entire labor force, leading to inadequate aggregate demand for labor and underutilized capacity. The economy inefficiently operates inside its production possibilities frontier. Then, the adoption of rather unorthodox left-wing fiscal and labor policies may boost capacity utilization and lead to a Pareto improvement.

Informal Employment and Income: A Case Study in Tra Vinh Province

This paper investigates the impact of the informal economy on the economy, focusing on the relationship between informal employment and the incomes of workers in Tra Vinh province. The empirical modelling employs OLS regression with cross-sectional VHLSS data for the Tra Vinh province covering the period 2004-2018. A labor-based approach of is applied to measure the informality of workers. Accordingly, the workers in the occupational groups who work independently are self-employed, and work for the family business is considered informal employment, while the other group is considered formal employment. The results of the study indicate that the informal employment have the lower incomes in the shor and long term. Beside that, the orther sectors including gender, education, the number of working hours, and skill levels have too a highly significant impact on workers' incomes. All policy implications of the study lead to the goal of improving working conditions for workers in the informal economy. Accordingly, the proposed policies include the synchronization between employment policies and labor supply and demand in the market, which focuses on vocational training for workers, provides solutions to ensure legality for employees and set up a databate on labor supply and demand.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF COVID-19: EVIDENCE FROM A NEW PUBLIC DATABASE BUILT USING PRIVATE SECTOR DATA.

We build a publicly available database that tracks economic activity in the United States at a granular level in real time using anonymized data from private companies. We report weekly statistics on consumer spending, business revenues, job postings, and employment rates disaggregated by county, sector, and income group. Using the publicly available data, we show how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the economy by analyzing heterogeneity in its effects across subgroups. High-income individuals reduced spending sharply in March 2020, particularly in sectors that require in-person interaction. This reduction in spending greatly reduced the revenues of small businesses in affluent, dense areas. Those businesses laid off many of their employees, leading to widespread job losses, especially among low-wage workers in such areas. High-wage workers experienced a V-shaped recession that lasted a few weeks, whereas low-wage workers experienced much larger, more persistent job losses. Even though consumer spending and job postings had recovered fully by December 2021, employment rates in low-wage jobs remained depressed in areas that were initially hard hit, indicating that the temporary fall in labor demand led to a persistent reduction in labor supply. Building on this diagnostic analysis, we evaluate the effects of fiscal stimulus policies designed to stem the downward spiral in economic activity. Cash stimulus payments led to sharp increases in spending early in the pandemic, but much smaller responses later in the pandemic, especially for high-income households. Real-time estimates of marginal propensities to consume provided better forecasts of the impacts of subsequent rounds of stimulus payments than historical estimates. Overall, our findings suggest that fiscal policies can stem secondary declines in consumer spending and job losses, but cannot restore full employment when the initial shock to consumer spending arises from health concerns. More broadly, our analysis demonstrates how public statistics constructed from private sector data can support many research and real-time policy analyses, providing a new tool for empirical macroeconomics.

Intrahousehold preference heterogeneity and demand for labor‐saving agricultural technology

AbstractEvaluations of agricultural technologies rarely consider the implications of how adoption may alter the labor allocation of different individuals within a household. We examine intrahousehold decision‐making dynamics that shape smallholder households' decision to use mechanical rice transplanting (MRT), a technology that disproportionately influences demand for women's labor. To study the adoption decision, we experimentally estimate the willingness to pay for MRT services both at the individual and household level. We find that women value MRT more than men, especially when they participate in transplanting on their own farms. This preference heterogeneity is evident in the unconditional differences between women's and men's valuation and differences conditional on their individual observable characteristics. Despite having stronger preferences for MRT, women have less influence on the household's technology adoption decision than men. This differential influence over the MRT adoption decision reflects the intrahousehold power structure: in households where women have less control over assets, they also have less influence over the MRT adoption decision. Our results highlight how technological changes interact with unobserved, gender‐based intrahousehold power relations to influence agricultural production decisions and, by extension, the gendered allocation of labor and welfare of women.

The Russian labor market: Long-term trends and short-term fluctuations

This paper provides a statistical portrait of the Russian labor market during the latest period of 2010–2022. The analysis delves into both the long-term trends in its evolution and short-term fluctuations associated with its adjustment to economic downturns. The most noteworthy among the long-term changes are a gradual shrinkage of the labor force and employment, the transition to record low unemployment, a sharp acceleration in worker turnover, and the emergence of an extensive overhang of unfilled job vacancies. During the period under review, the Russian economy experienced three strong adverse macroeconomic shocks — the first sanctions crisis in 2014–2015, the corona crisis in 2000–2021, and the second sanctions crisis, which began in 2022 and is still far from over. The paper provides the evidence that the Russian labor market has retained the same algorithm for accommodation to economic downturns, which it developed back in the 1990s. A distinctive feature of this specific model is that the negative shocks are absorbed predominantly through declines in wages and reductions in working hours, rather than through contraction of employment and surge in unemployment. The general conclusion is that the Russian labor market is undergoing a transition from a functional regime marked by tight labor demand to another characterized by tight labor supply.

Skill demand and labour market concentration: evidence from Italian vacancies

PurposeThe authors provide a novel interpretation of the relationship between skill demand and labour market concentration based on the training rationale.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a novel data set on Italian online job vacancies during 2013–2018 to analyse the relationship between labour market concentration and employers' skill demand. The authors construct measures of market concentration and skill intensity in the local labour market. The authors regress the measures of skill demand on market concentration, controlling for sector, occupations and other features of the labour market. The authors also use the Hausman–Nevo instrument for market concentration.FindingsThe authors show that employers in a highly concentrated labour market demand competencies associated with the ability of workers to learn faster (e.g. social skills) rather than actual knowledge. They also require less experience but higher education. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that employers in more concentrated labour markets are more prone to train their employees. Instead of looking for workers who already have job-specific skills, they look for workers who can acquire them faster and efficiently. The authors provide a theoretical framework within which to analyse these aspects as well as providing a test for the relevant hypotheses.Practical implicationsIn addition to cross-countries differences in labour market regulations, the authors' findings suggest that policy authorities should consider the local labour market structure when studying workforce development programmes aimed at bridging the skill gap of displaced workers. Moreover, the authors show that market concentration can have relevant implications for human resource (HR) managers by affecting their recruitment behaviour through the demand for skills. In fact, concentrated markets tend to favour firms' collusion and anti-competitive behaviour that could strongly affect HR management practices.Originality/valueThe authors' paper innovates on the literature in a number of ways. First, the authors provide evidence of local labour market concentration in Italy. Second, the authors provide evidence of skill demand at the local level using a detailed skill taxonomy that goes beyond the classical distinction between high and low skills. Third, and most importantly, the authors provide evidence of the relationship between skill demand and labour market concentration. By analysing detailed skills and competencies, the authors take one step beyond understanding the features of labour demand in monopsonistic markets.

Evaluate and identify the competencies of the future workforce for digital technologies implementation in higher education

In recent years, both information technology (IT) labor demand and IT job characteristics have been significantly influenced by the advent of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and the digital age. The higher education sector is expected to upgrade itself with such progress and train graduates capable of meeting the new industry requirements. However, due to the present demand gap, universities are seeking to identify the skills new digital workers are expected to have. As we live in the digital age, the literature has failed to address the questions of the consequences for individual workers adequately. Considerable scientific efforts should be made to design certain curricula and training programs that could nurture digital competencies (DC). There is a need to construct an inclusive framework of the term. In addition, different options exist for studying the DC of the workforce in relation to human resources management (HRM). The current paper attempts to fill the gap by developing an integrated decision-making framework. The paper aims to introduce an innovative discrimination measure and discuss its elegant properties. A Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to the COmpromise Solution (MARCOS) framework for evaluating the MCDM problem on a fuzzy set has been developed based on it. On the other hand, the new methodology of the PF-entropy-RS weight technique is used to compute the criteria weights or significance degrees of criteria. Then, the MARCOS method is a new elegant approach to handle the MCDM problems. Thus, in this study, we have developed a new approach to the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method using the PF-entropy-RS and PF-MARCOS methods and further implemented for the evaluation of the competencies of the future workforce for digital technologies implementation in higher education. It helps to calculate the objective/subjective weights of criteria to evaluate the competencies of the future workforce for digital technologies implementation in higher education; then, the approach is used to assess the preferences of higher education institutes over different competencies of the future workforce for digital technologies implementation in higher education. An empirical case study is carried out in this paper for the evaluation of the most important competencies of the future workforce for digital technologies implementation in higher education. In addition, to evaluate the performance quality of the proposed framework, this study also involves some comparison and sensitivity analyses. This study found that data and information processing has emerged as the most important competencies of the future workforce for digital technologies implementation in higher education. The ability to interact with modern interfaces is the second most important competency of the future workforce for digital technologies implementation in higher education. In conclusion, the workforce responsible for implementing digital technologies in higher education will significantly impact students’ learning experiences. As technological advancements continue, higher education institutions will require skilled professionals with diverse digital expertise to manage and integrate these technologies successfully.

Sazonalidade da comercialização do crisântemo na região oeste de São Paulo: o caso do criador

Abstract The Flowers and Ornamental Plant sector supports an extensive network of entrepreneurs, in all stages related to cultivation, transport and commercialization. In this aspect, there is a great demand for skilled labor, making this sector a source of employment and income generation in the regions covered. However, there is great interference on the commercialization of flowers and ornamental plants by the seasonality of demand, which is often related to festive dates, weather, among other factors. Thus, knowledge about seasonal demands allows the sector to develop a plan, directing efforts to offer products with greater demand in a given period. This study aimed to generate information, through a case study based on the analysis of commercialization data, and verify the seasonal demand on the commercialization of ornamental species in western São Paulo. There was an increase in the demand for chrysanthemum cuttings, both for the domestic and export markets, during the years 2019 and 2020, in addition to fluctuations in the demand for some cultivars of cuttings of chrysanthemum in one year compared to the other. Through the analysis, it is concluded that the seasonality of commercialization of ornamental plants in the West Region of São Paulo really occurs, especially between the 26th and 34th week of the year, with the purpose of serving the domestic market of chrysanthemums. This result allows planning the planting and harvesting time, as well as the definition of the best varieties to be cultivated in these periods.

Labor resources of Kazakhstani villages

The action of the law of supply and demand for labor is reflected in wages and reveals the discrepancy between jobs and the composition of workers in terms of quantitative and qualitative parameters. The ongoing processes are related to the demographic situation, territorial characteristics, sectoral structure of the economy and other factors that serve as the basis for studying the labor market through segmentation. The goal is to assess the current situation in the field of labor resources, identify patterns and develop recommendations for improving the efficiency of their functioning. Methods – analysis and synthesis, systemic approach, economic and statistical (comparative analysis, relative and average values, comparison). To determine the strategic directions of state policy to increase employment and reduce the number of unemployed rural people, the method of generalizations was used. Results – the degree of development of this topic in the works of Kazakhstani and foreign scientists, the current state and features of functioning of the labor market in rural areas of the republic, employment and unemployment indicators in rural areas by age groups and level of education in dynamics were studied. Particular attention is paid to employment in agricultural production, which provides more than 32% of jobs. Measures are proposed to increase the attractiveness of rural areas for living and ways to improve the efficiency of the functioning of the rural labor market. Conclusions – the implementation of the measures considered will significantly increase the well-being of residents, socio-economic stability in society, and food security in the country. It is necessary to improve the activities of labor relations institutions, including information support, as well as expand the scope of entrepreneurship.

Demand in the Russian Labor Market

The work deals to the construction of the labor demand function in modern Russia. This function is two-factor, with real wages and gross domestic product acting as its factors. The function in question is based on a modified labor demand function, which is a regression equation linking the labor intensity of production with the average real wage. Labor intensity in this case is interpreted as the amount of demand for labor on the part of an average Russian employer in the production of final products worth, for example, 1 million rubles per year. The product of the theoretical value of the modified demand function in a certain year by the value of GDP gives the theoretical number of employed, interpreted as the value of the demand for labor. The article presents the results based on the dynamic series of official Russian statistical information for 2001–2020 calculations that allowed us to determine the type and parameters of the modified labor demand function. The characteristic features of this function are decreasing with deceleration and relatively high elasticity. The relationship between labor intensity and wages can be described as very close. As the calculations have shown, the two-factor demand function also adequately reflects the situation on the Russian labor market.

New labour market trends and developments

Subject. The new management paradigm arising from changes in the external and internal environment requires a change in the priority of elements that ensures the successful functioning of an economic entity, maintaining its competitiveness, and preserving the consumer segments of the produced goods and services. The priority of human resources means the need for a timely introduction of the evolutionary and revolutionary processes related to the labour force supply and demand, as its capacity reserve tends to decrease.Objectives. The purpose of the article is to provide an insight into the development of scientific thought, firstly, by regarding the evolution of traditional trends that characterise the modern labour market. Second, we described the emerging trends in the supply and demand of the labour force and the corresponding transformation of human resource management in organisations. Methodology. To achieve our objectives, we used general and empirical research methods. Analysis and synthesis were applied to obtain new knowledge on the topic. We used analysis to identify the components of the progress of scientific thought from the signal indicating the emergence of a trend to the identification of its drivers and challenges. Through analysis, we also identified the features of supply and demand of the labour force in the modern labour market, which is characterised by staff diversity. Statistical analysis revealed the current patterns of the changes in the Russian labour market, indicating the emergence of new trends. Synthesis made it possible to gain a single comprehensive view of the current cascade of trends and possible shifts in the behaviour of younger and older workers in the labour market.Results. The article presents the structured provisions that substantiate the impact of the cascade of trends on the development of the labour market and changes in the supply and demand for the labour force of younger and older workers. The outlined idea promotes the scientists’ conclusions about the existence of trend cascades. Managing these cascades in the labour market makes it possible to apply the conclusions of trendwatching to influence the emerging signals indicating the strengthening of a new trend that is undesirable for human resource policy.Conclusions. Significant shifts in the age structure of the population are changing the ageing megatrend, that has become global, as well as its impact on the labour market. The analysis methods used in the article, first of all, supported the researchers’ opinion that “success” as the goal of the new management paradigm can be achieved based on a knowledge of the trends that determine the vector of employer’s activities in order to keep up, succeed, and retain their positions several steps ahead of the competitors. Second, they allowed us to identify the mechanism of the emergence, development, and extinction of trends in the labour market and the formation of trend cascades. Third, they supported the theory of drivers that can change the substance and stability of the trend and, therefore, provide opportunities to manage it. Fourth, they allowed us to substantiate the changes in labour demand, which is characterised by a rapid and frequent change in the requirements for a worker to fill modern positions requiring new knowledge, practical and cognitive skills, and behavioural patterns. Fifth, they allowed us to demonstrate a priority shift towards new forms of dependent labour to match the new values and attitudes of employment applicants and employed personnel. Sixth, they allowed us to substantiate the potential of the segment of older workers in influencing the trend of ageism and the formation of ecosystem and occupational health policies in organisations. Seventh, they can be used to prevent in advance the disruption of the natural personnel rotation of different age generations in the labour market and the transfer of professional experience from the older generation of workers in the internal competitive environment.

Farm Labour Preferences among Small-scale Arable Crop Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria

Human labour is critical in the survival and sustainability of the small-scale farm production system in developing countries. Following the imperfection in the rural labour market and the mounting rural poverty, labour demand among resource-poor small-scale farmers has shifted from its traditional surplus supply market pattern to a more competitive labour market. In Nigeria for instance, human labour is not readily available to farmers in most rural farming communities compared to the previous decades. Considering the fact that more than 60% of agricultural production is done by small-scale farmers in the country; there is an overwhelming need to identify ways of increasing labour utilization by the small-scale farmers in the southern region of Nigeria. Premised on these facts, the study primarily examined the prominent labour sources available to small-scale cassava-based farmers and identified determinants of their demand or adoption. The study was conducted in Akwa Ibom State in the southern region of Nigeria. A total of two hundred (200) cassava-based farmers were randomly sampled using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and multinomial Logit models were employed to analyse the data and objectives of the study. The findings revealed hired labour, family labour and group labour as the major human labour sources for the small-scale farmers in the region. Also, farmers’ age, educational attainment, farm income, farming experience, non-farm income, farm size and social capital formation were identified as factors that increase the probability of adopting hired labour relative to the family labour in the region. Similarly, farmers’ age, education attainment, social capital formation, farmers’ sex and non-farm income were found to increase the probability of using group labour relative to the family labour source. However, household size impacted negatively on the probability of using both hired and group labour relative to family labour. It is recommended that farmers’ formal education, farm income and social capital formation should be enhanced to help them in making efficient choices on labour demand in the rural labour market.

Labour-Use Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Nigeria’s North-Central Region

A cross-sectional data collected through structured questionnaire coupled with an interview schedule from 360 rice farmers selected via a multi-stage sampling technique was used to determine the labour efficiency of rice farmers in Nigeria’s North-Central region. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the 2020 cropping season data. The empirical evidences showed a farming population that is gender biased due to gender stereotype, thus affected women’s access to and control over productive resources. Besides, economic-productive people that explored pecuniary advantages to achieve economies of scale engaged in cultivation of thinly uneconomic holding. The poor economic status of the farm families made most of the farmers to rely on family labour for farm operations, thus keeping most of their children and young ones out of school. Furthermore, most of the farmers were fairly efficient in the use of labour with little technical support required to enable them to achieve optimum labour efficiency level (frontier point). However, the empirical evidences showed competition for labour demand between farm and off-farm activities, and, conservative and complacency attitudes due to longevity in the enterprise to be the factors that affected labour efficiency. Therefore, the study calls for gender mainstreaming in the agricultural budget to overcome women’s challenge on productive resources; incentivized the enterprise viz. credit provision; and, adoption of a bottom-to-top approach in research and practical demonstration approach in the transfer of innovative rice technologies.

Emergency regional food supply chain design and its labor demand forecasting model: application to COVID-19 pandemic disruption

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the global food supply chain through various interventions, such as city closures, traffic restrictions, and silent management. Limited research has been conducted on the design of emergency regional food supply chains (ERFSC) and its labor demand forecasting under government-mandated interventions. This paper applies emergency supply chain management theory to analyze the business processes of the ERFSC and proposes a multi-level ERFSC network tailored to different risk levels. Additionally, a food demand forecasting model and a mathematical model for stochastic labor demand planning are constructed based on the development trend of regional epidemics. An empirical analysis is presented using Huaguoyuan, Guiyang, China, as an example. The results demonstrate that the proposed ERFSC design and its labor demand forecasting model can achieve secure supply and accurate distribution of necessities in regions with different risk levels. These findings have important policy and research implications for the government and practitioners to take interventions and actions to ensure food supply for residents in the context of city closure or silent management. This study serves as a pilot study that will be further extended by the authors from geographical and policy perspectives.

Gender and public works intervention in rural Ghana: An empowerment framework perspective

Transformative social protection requires an understanding of how interventions affect women and men. Gender inequality remains pervasive in societies. However, mainstream social protection evaluations have seldom been informed by gender analysis beyond sex categorisation. This paper focuses on the Labour Intensive Public Works Programme in Wa West District of Ghana to discuss the gender dynamics in participation outcomes. We analysed data from ten in-depth interviews with district assembly's social welfare and LIPW project staff and eight focus group discussions with programme participants and nonparticipants. In-depth interviews with the key informant clearly show that though the programme implementers acknowledge differential labour demands among participants, it is carried out in a manner that sustains gender inequalities through the endorsement of social stereotypes. The analysis revealed that an increase in women's income did not augment their ability to bargain in household decision-making. The study draws on Longwe's Women Empowerment Framework to discuss the results. This paper explains why and how this new knowledge can be used to inform theoretical and future policy debates on social protection.

Cross-Cultural Emotional Labor: A Study of NGO Workers in Haiti

ABSTRACT Although demand for emotional labor (EL) is at its highest in times of disasters, there is a lack of studies on EL by disaster response and recovery workers in intercultural contexts. Using in-depth interviews and secondary data collected in Haiti, this article focuses on the link between culture and EL. We find that an understanding of the cultural context and the cultural competencies used to effectively navigate that context are central to each step of effective emotional labor performance. These findings help disaster response organizations better understand the value of cultural competence and how it effects the performance of EL.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Workers

The impact of artificial intelligence on human workers is a complex and ongoing topic of research and debate, and the extent to which AI will replace human jobs is still uncertain. Therefore, this research aims to answer following research questions. How does artificial intelligence affect human workers? What jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence? What jobs can endure without being replaced by artificial intelligence?. This research was conducted in qualitative approach based on secondary data from previous studies. Data analysis techniques through four stages, namely data collection, data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. After reviewing the remaining articles for eligibility in terms of the inclusion criteria, 45 papers were included in the data analysis. This study conclude that artificial intelligence has the ability to augment human talents, generate innovation, offer new career possibilities, and improve decision-making. Adopting AI technologies not only improves employee skills and productivity, but also enables organizations to function more efficiently. This study found that the negative effects of AI, such as job displacement, lower labour demand, employee deskilling, erosion of privacy and autonomy, exacerbation of wealth inequality, and shifting employee requirements. AI has the potential to disrupt traditional work functions in routine and repetitive tasks, manual labour, high-paying occupations, decision-making roles, HR operations, and certain service industry jobs. AI struggles to imitate creative endeavours, emotional intelligence, physical dexterity, human interaction, and complicated decision-making. These professions will continue to thrive as technology advances, reminding us that the essence of human experience is irreplaceable.