Labor Demand Research Articles

사회 문화적 변화의 관점에서 본 1950년대 미국 주방 디자인과 여성의 라이프스타일에 대한 연구

This study delves into the social context and cultural changes of 1950s America to explore the interaction between women’s lifestyles and modern kitchen design. Through literature review, visual material analysis, and case studies, the study examines how adjustments in lifestyle affect women’s design needs in three aspects: physiological, functional, and psychological. Kitchen design has shifted from closed to open layouts to facilitate communication and interaction among family members. Storage solutions have become increasingly functional and personalized, offering housewives a more convenient user experience. Meanwhile, advancements in kitchen technology have reduced labor demands and improved comfort. By analyzing iconic designs such as Future Kitchens, Youngstown Cabinet Design, and Cornell Kitchens, the study explores how these designs responded to changes in women’s lifestyles. The findings reveal a mutually constraining yet facilitating relationship between women’s lifestyles and the development of kitchen design in the context of socio-cultural change, offering new perspectives and ideas for user-centered modern kitchen design.

Local labor market and corporate investment

To capture local labor market pooling in agglomeration economics, we employ segment information and occupation statistics to construct firm-pair labor force similarities. Our findings indicate a positive relation between local labor market thickness and corporate investment, influenced by both employer-driven labor demand and employee-driven labor supply. The findings are more pronounced in firms with more skilled labor, less routine-task labor, and higher product and technology competitions. Firms in thicker local labor markets also display higher investment efficiency, higher operating efficiency, and higher valuation. To mitigate the endogeneity concern, we employ an instrumental variable approach to show robustness. Overall, we uncover a specific linkage between the local labor market and corporate investment.

Polish Forced Labourers in the Klaipėda Region during World War II

This paper examines the plight of Polish forced labourers in the Klaipėda region during World War II, shedding light on a lesser-known aspect of Nazi occupation policies. Drawing on a database maintained by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, the author collected data on nearly 2,000 Polish individuals subjected to forced labour in Klaipėda. Through archival research and analysis of personal testimonies, the study explores the demographics, origins, working conditions, and treatment of these labourers. The occupation of Klaipada by Nazi Germany resulted in the displacement of local populations and the influx of foreign workers to meet wartime labour demands. Polish labourers, predominantly young and from economically disadvantaged regions like Ciechanów, were among those forcibly mobilized. They were subjected to harsh treatment, discriminatory laws, and often found themselves in precarious working and living conditions. The paper highlights the experiences of Polish labourers in various industries, including construction and agriculture, and examines the motivations behind their escapes from forced labour. It also addresses the sensitive issue of sexual violence against female Polish workers, which remains largely overlooked in historiography. The liberation of Klaipėda by Soviet forces in 1945 brought an end to forced labour in the region, but many labourers faced further hardships, including mistreatment by Soviet authorities. The paper concludes with reflections on the post-war reparations process and calls for further research and cross-border cooperation to fully understand the history of forced labour in the Klaipėda region and its lasting impact on affected communities.

Carbon-mechanic dual-control design decision model of prefabricated structural components

Prefabricated enclosure structures (PES) have become the key technology for low-carbon construction in the engineering field due to their low labor demand, fast construction speed, and low environmental pollution. In the context of low-carbon development, efficiently designing PES that not only possess high-strength but also demonstrate significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction benefits has become a critical challenge. The objective of this study is to address the challenges of automated design and scientific decision-making methods for PES components. First, the Carbon-mechanic dual-control assessment model (CDAM) is proposed, providing a novel evaluation dimension for the design of prefabricated components. Subsequently, based on the CDAM, an automated design decision-making process, and model for components are established using an improved genetic algorithm and parameterized method. Finally, under the constraints of actual engineering conditions, adaptive solutions were automatically generated for specific cases. These solutions were comprehensively evaluated and optimized using CDAM, resulting in design guidelines and optimal solutions for PES that balance environmental performance and load-bearing capacity. The case analysis results show that the optimal scheme based on the carbon-mechanic dual-control (CM) index is: the sectional dimension is 830 mm, the reinforcement ratio is 0.9 % and the cavity ratio is 45 %, which shows the ideal characteristics of low-carbon and high-strength. Compared with the single index decision scheme, this scheme achieve a maximum of 42 % GHG emissions reduction. The high comprehensive performance scheme is characterized by small sectional dimension, high reinforcement ratio, and high cavity ratio. Cavity ratio is a key parameter to achieve high performance design. The research findings provide an important theoretical basis and technical support for the low-carbon transformation in the engineering field.

Innovations in Sericulture an Advancements in Silk Production and Quality Improvement

Sericulture, the cultivation of silkworms for silk production, has a long and significant history, particularly in rural economies. In recent years, the industry has undergone transformative innovations that have enhanced efficiency, sustainability, and silk quality. This review explores key advancements in sericulture, focusing on technological innovations, genetic improvements, sustainable farming practices, and the role of biotechnology in reshaping the industry. Notable technological developments, such as automated silk reeling machines and climate-controlled rearing houses, have streamlined production, reducing labor demands while ensuring consistent silk quality. Additionally, digital monitoring systems now allow for real-time tracking of silkworm health and environmental conditions, empowering farmers with data-driven insights for better management. Genetic advancements, including selective breeding and genetic engineering, have led to high-yield, disease-resistant silkworm strains, significantly boosting silk output and quality. Moreover, innovations in producing naturally colored silk via genetic modification have minimized the need for chemical dyes, reducing the environmental footprint of the dyeing process. Sustainability has become a focal point, with organic farming methods, integrated pest management (IPM), and waste recycling practices becoming more widespread. These practices not only safeguard the environment but also enhance the economic viability of sericulture, benefiting rural communities and driving social development. Biotechnology has expanded the horizon of sericulture, enabling the engineering of silk proteins and the creation of transgenic silkworms for specialized medical and industrial applications. Overall, these advancements have transformed sericulture into a more efficient, sustainable, and economically viable industry, offering significant benefits to both global silk markets and rural livelihoods.

Skill, race, and wage inequality in British Tanganyika

High racial disparities between Europeans and Africans and high skill premiums are recurrent themes in the literature on inequality in colonial Africa. However, their determinants and effects on inequality remain underexplored. This paper investigates wage inequality, skill premiums, and racial discrimination in British Tanganyika from c. 1920 to 1960. It provides first estimates for wage inequality and race premiums in Tanganyika and extends the coverage of earlier skill premium estimates. Initially, wage inequality in Tanganyika was comparable to neighbouring Kenya and Uganda, but it remained higher in the late colonial period. A primary driver of wage inequality was racial wage disparity, which was partly caused by racial discrimination. Skill premiums also played an important and increasing role and were higher than previously thought. The Tanganyikan administration's failure to expand African education to meet skilled labour demand significantly contributed to racial income differences and wage inequality within the African labour force.

Urban environmental regulation, firms’ emission reduction strategies and labor demand: Evidence from China

Air pollution affects people's livelihoods, and China's environmental governance is a defensive battle that must be fought. Combining several comprehensive datasets, this study uncovers the underlying mechanisms of urban environmental regulation that affect labor demand from the perspective of firms’ choice of emission reduction strategies. Utilizing a difference-in-differences method, this study finds that on average, the Key City Demarcation Scheme for Air Pollution Prevention and Control (KCDS) has a drive-out effect on employment while improving urban environmental quality, making it difficult to achieve the double-dividend of de-pollution and employment promotion. These conclusions still hold after considering various specification checks, including the instrumental variable method. Underlying mechanisms indicate that manufacturing firms strengthen both front-end productive “changes-in-process” and non-productive “end-of-pipe” treatment to respond to stricter urban environmental enforcement, and ultimately, KCDS has triggered a drive-out effect on employment. Heterogeneous effects investigate that firms’ emission reduction strategies have path dependence and that the drive-out effect on employment is particularly pronounced for large-scale, technology- and capital-intensive domestic firms in large cities. This study provides policy insights for the smooth realization of the urban green transformation while safeguarding the livelihood of society.

The impact of financial technology on employment: Protection or disruption?

This study examines the impact and underlying mechanisms of financial technology (FinTech) on corporate labor demand by utilizing microdata from Chinese listed companies between 2011 and 2019. The results indicate that FinTech significantly enhances firms' overall labor demand and demand for skilled labor. Mechanistic analysis reveals that FinTech alleviates firms' financing constraints, increasing research and development (R&D) investments, which subsequently stimulates labor demand. Heterogeneity tests have revealed that the impact of FinTech on firms' labor demand varies depending on their stage of growth, ownership attributes, and level of financial development in the regions in which they are located. Furthermore, we reveal that FinTech can concurrently increase labor demand for workers with varying skill levels and educational backgrounds and increase the share of labor income. We provide new insights with theoretical and practical implications for studying the intrinsic linkages between financial and labor markets.

The Impact of Self-Efficacy on Career Choices of Generation Z: The Mediating Role of Decision-Making Difficulties in DKI Jakarta

The Generation Z population is the largest demographic group in Indonesia currently entering the workforce. However, data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) indicates that youth unemployment remains a critical issue in the employment sector. The increasing open unemployment rate among Generation Z can be attributed to an imbalance between labor demand and supply, as well as career decision-making processes during school or university periods. This study aims to analyze the factors influencing OUR among Generation Z, specifically through the career decision-making process before entering the workforce. Furthermore, this research examines the influence of Self-Efficacy in Career Decision-Making on Career Decisions through the mediating variable of Career Decision-Making Difficulties. The methodology employed is a survey, with data collected via questionnaires distributed to 104 respondents who meet the study criteria. The instruments used include the Career Decision Scale (CDS), the short-form Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy (CDMSE-SF), and the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). The findings reveal an indirect influence of Self-Efficacy in Career Decision-Making on Career Decisions, mediated by Career Decision-Making Difficulties among Generation Z individuals entering the workforce in DKI Jakarta.

Women’s economic empowerment and intimate partner violence

This study explores the relationship between women’s economic empowerment and intimate partner violence (IPV), measured as women’s hospital visits for assault. Using longitudinal Swedish administrative data, I proxy women’s economic empowerment with a measure of potential relative earnings of married spouses caused by local changes in gender-specific labour demand. The findings reveal that an increase in potential relative earnings increases the probability of women’s hospital visits for injuries caused by assault, and the effect is particularly pronounced for women with low baseline bargaining power. Furthermore, exploiting detailed information on type of hospital visit, diagnosis and medical actions taken at the hospital, I show that the increase in hospital visits for assault is, at least in part, driven by an increase in care-seeking for IPV-related injuries rather than an increase in IPV itself.

Digital transformation of enterprises: Job creation or job destruction?

In recent years, the technological advancements embodied by digital technology have received significant attention from policymakers and researchers because of their profound impacts on the economy and society. In particular, the relationship between digital technology and employment continues to be a subject of considerable debate. This article focuses on the microperspective, and the causal effects and mechanisms of corporate digital transformation on labour employment are examined. With the use of data on Chinese A-share manufacturing companies from 2008– to 2019, text analysis is employed in this study to construct a comprehensive index of corporate digital transformation. We utilise a combination of fixed effects models, difference-in-differences (DiD) models, and instrumental variable methods and demonstrate that digital transformation stimulates enterprise labour demand, a conclusion that remains valid after multiple endogeneity tests and robustness assessments. The heterogeneous results indicate that nonstate-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), nonhigh-tech enterprises, enterprises with low financing constraints, and small enterprises exhibit greater employment creation effects through digital transformation. Mechanistic analysis suggests that digital transformation increases enterprise employment by increasing operational and management efficiency, profitability, and labour productivity levels. Further exploration reveals that digital transformation increases the demand for labour with varying skills and human capital upgrading in enterprises. This article, through the lens of digital technology, enriches the body of research on the nexus between technological progress and employment, provides novel insights into employment fluctuations under the digital paradigm, and outlines significant implications for countries balancing digital economy development, employment growth, and social stability.

Technological anxiety: Analysis of the impact of industrial intelligence on employment in China

Employment is the greatest livelihood. Whether the impact of industrial robotics technology materialized in machines on employment in the digital age is an “icing on the cake” or “adding fuel to the fire” needs further study. This study aims to analyze the impact of the installation and application of industrial robots on labor demand in the context of the Chinese economy. First, from the theoretical logic and the economic development law, this study gives the prior judgment and research hypothesis that industrial intelligence will increase jobs. Then, based on the panel data of 269 cities in China from 2006 to 2021, we use the two-way fixed effect model, dynamic threshold model, and two-stage intermediary effect model. The objective is to investigate the impact of industrial intelligence on enterprise labor demand and its path mechanism. Results show that the overall effect of industrial intelligence on the labor force with the installation density index of industrial robots as the proxy variable is the “creation effect”. In other words, advanced digital technology has created additional jobs, and the overall supply of employment in the labor market has increased. The conclusion is still valid after the endogeneity identification and robustness test. In addition, the positive effect has a nonlinear effect on the network scale. When the installation density of industrial robots exceeds a particular threshold value, the division of labor continues to deepen under the combined action of the production efficiency and compensation effects, which will cause enterprises to increase labor demand further. Further research showed that industrial intelligence can increase employment by promoting synergistic agglomeration and improving labor price distortions. This study concludes that in the digital China era, the introduction and installation of industrial robots by enterprises can affect the optimal allocation of the labor market. This phenomenon has essential experience and reference significance for guiding industrial digitalization and intelligent transformation and promoting the high-quality development of people’s livelihood.

A School of Its Own: US Naturalism and the Demands of Professional Labor

Abstract: This essay centers around a comparative reading of William Dean Howells's A Hazard of New Fortunes and Frank Norris's McTeague . Its main goal is to contextualize Norris's attempts to promote what he understood to be literary naturalism—positioned against the "well-behaved, ordinary, bourgeois" realism of Howells—and to show how he connected the idea of 'the literary' to the postbellum world of professional labor. In as much as other, established professions already regulated the practice of work according to internally ratified standards of quality, postbellum writers, too, sought to render the practice of writing objectifiable by appeal to standards of evaluation that were approved by experts within their own community, a "brotherhood of novelists" in the words of James.

“The principles of political economy, though often quoted, are little understood.” Fleeming Jenkin on trade unions and the law of supply and demand

The paper proposes a rational reconstruction of Fleeming Jenkin’s 1868 analysis of wage determination in labour markets characterised by the presence of trade unions. Jenkin intended to show that the supply and demand theory of market price determination did not support the thesis sustained by the opponents of trade unions that the latter are unable to permanently achieve a market-clearing wage higher than that which would be obtained in their absence. Starting with a definition of “demand” and “supply” of a given commodity as functions of a few economic variables, Jenkin elaborated a fresh critique of the wages fund theory and highlighted the impact of trade unions on both supply and demand for labour.

Firm financing and the relative demand for labor and capital

Using more than one million firm-year observations of small and medium European firms between 2003 and 2019, this paper introduces new stylized facts on how firms' relative demand for labor and capital evolved as their capital structure adjusted to the events of the 2008 crisis. It also provides micro-level evidence that firms substitute capital for labor when financing costs rise. The empirical evidence lends support to the hypothesis that substitution is driven by an incentive to raise holdings of collateralizable capital. Identification of exogenous variations in firm financing costs relies on the heterogeneous effects of ECB monetary policy surprises on financing costs across the firm distribution.

Economic policy uncertainty and the demand for labor: Evidence from the online job postings of Chinese firms

This paper examines the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on labor demand. Using data from a Chinese online job posting site, this study empirically investigates how EPU affects firms' hiring behavior. The results suggest that EPU has overall negative effects. Firms tend to reduce job postings in times of increasing policy uncertainty. More particularly, the demand for skills such as teamwork, personnel management, project management, and customer service declines, while individual qualities become more important to enterprises. The study also reveals that there is a positive relationship between EPU and the educational background required in firms' job ads. Further analysis indicates that non-state-owned enterprises, those with poor internal control quality, smaller scale, greater industry competitiveness, and those in non-high-tech industries are more significantly affected by EPU in hiring. This research provides empirical support and policy recommendations for the government to maintain employment stability and stimulate enterprise labor demand.

Zai Pits as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Technique in Southern Kenya: Maize Success Is Influenced More by Manure Than Depth

In semi-arid southern Kenya, climate change is putting rainfed agriculture at risk with major implications for food security. The zai pit, a Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technique, has proven to enhance yields in arid regions, but its labor demands have limited adoption rates. This study assessed how the zai pit depth and manure application within zai pits influenced maize (Zea mays) success (i.e., growth, development, and productivity). Three zai pit treatments were prepared at the Wildlife Works Research Center in southeastern Kenya: (1) deep (50 cm) with manure; (2) shallow (25 cm) with manure; and (3) deep (50 cm) without manure, and all were compared to a non-zai pit control (surface planting). Maize growth/development (e.g., height, stage, roots) and productivity (e.g., yield) measurements were taken over two growing periods. For most measures, shallow zai pits performed equally as well as deep zai pits, with both performing better than the control. Zai pits without manure performed significantly worse than zai pits with manure, oftentimes not differing from the control. Results suggest that maize success is influenced more by manure than the depth of the pit. Kenyan farmers are encouraged to dig shallower, manure-enriched zai pits to enhance food security in response to climate change.

Impact of Immigration Policies on Economic Growth in Germany

Purpose: To aim of the study was to analyze the impact of immigration policies on economic growth in Germany. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Germany's immigration policies have had a significant impact on its economic growth. These policies have facilitated the influx of skilled labor, which has helped to address the country's demographic challenges, particularly the aging population and labor shortages in key sectors. Immigrants have contributed to the labor market by filling both high-skilled and low-skilled jobs, boosting productivity and innovation. Additionally, immigration has increased consumer demand, further stimulating economic growth. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Human capital theory, dual labor market theory & endogenous growth theory may be used to anchor future studies on the impact of immigration policies on economic growth in Germany. Implement comprehensive language and vocational training programs for refugees and low-skilled immigrants to facilitate their economic integration and productivity. Formulate balanced immigration policies that address sector-specific labor demands without disadvantaging native workers.

Determinants of Labour Demand in Manufacturing Sector in Ethiopia

Determinants of Labour Demand in Manufacturing Sector in Ethiopia

Payroll tax incidence: Evidence from unemployment insurance

Economic models assume that payroll tax burdens fall fully on workers, but where does tax incidence fall when taxes are firm-specific and time-varying? Unemployment insurance in the United States has the key feature of varying both across employers and over time, creating the potential for labor demand responses if tax costs cannot be fully passed through to worker wages. Using state policy changes and administrative data of matched employer–employee job spells, I study how employment and earnings respond to unexpected payroll tax increases for highly exposed employers. I find significant drops in employment growth driven by lower hiring, and minimal evidence of pass-through to earnings. The negative employment effects are strongest for young workers and single-establishment firms.