Employment In Israel Research Articles

Bilateral agreements, precarious work, and the vulnerability of migrant workers in Israel

Abstract We examine the short-term and long-term impact of bilateral agreements on migrant workers’ vulnerability during their employment in Israel. To do so, we developed the Vulnerability Index of Migrant Workers based on five dimensions: poor working conditions, poor living conditions, poor safety conditions, low wages, and dependence on migration costs. We focus on migrant workers arriving in Israel from two different countries (China and Thailand), employed in two different sectors of the economy (construction and agriculture, respectively). Data was gathered through a survey conducted among workers arriving from both countries before and after the implementation of the bilateral agreements. The study revealed that after the implementation of bilateral agreements, the working, living and safety conditions of migrant workers remained poor or even worsened. For Thai workers, there was a slight improvement in the working and living conditions in the short term after the bilateral agreement, but they worsened in the long run. The total Index of Vulnerability of both groups showed improvement due to the dramatic decrease in dependence on migration costs, despite the deterioration in some working and living conditions and the reduction in migrant workers’ relative wages.

The Importance of Public Policy for Regulating Post-Retirement Employment in Israel

The accelerated and consistent rise in life expectancy and the growing needs of elderly people who are required to support themselves for more years are leading to a conspicuous increase in the number of older workers who choose to remain in the labor market after reaching the official retirement age. The study indicates the distinct incompatibility between this policy and the needs of post-retirement age employees and proposes a list of changes aimed at adapting the policy to the current reality. The study stresses the significance of efficient public policy operating to regulate post-retirement employment for Israeli society in general and for older employees in particular. The research conclusions can contribute to shaping global public policy concerning the employment of older people.

First Palestinian intifada and intergenerational transmission of human capital

This paper attempts to estimate the intergenerational transmission of human capital in Palestine. The main question is whether formal parental education improves their offspring’s cognitive skills and school achievements. I use the instrumental variable method in the estimations to overcome the potential endogeneity of parental education. The main source of variation in parental educational attainment is parents’ exposure to the First Palestinian Intifada (1988–1993) during their middle and high school ages. During the First Palestinian Intifada, many school days were lost due to frequent school closures and other restrictions. Furthermore, many young people preferred to search for low-skill employment in Israel, since it provided them with better wages than the local labour market and hardly required any level of educational attainment. This study employs two outcomes, namely the standardised cognitive test scores and school achievements during the academic year 2012/2013 for students between grade 5 and grade 9 in West Bank schools. Overall, the results support the hypothesis of a human capital spill-over but more so for girls than for boys, where the instrumental variables results are often insignificant because of their large standard errors.

Economy-wide effects of cross-border labor mobility: The case of Palestinian employment in Israel

This paper investigates the economy-wide effects of cross-border movements of Palestinian labor for employment in Israel. The integration of Palestinian and Israeli labor markets is unique, as it differs from international labor migration and associated remittances described in the literature. Especially, it departs from the cultural and social dimensions associated with international migration because there is no shift in residence. We find based on an economy-wide model calibrated to a newly developed database of the West Bank economy that increasing Palestinian labor demand in Israel negatively affects the West Bank economy by bidding up domestic wages, reallocating labor away from tradable activities and reducing competitiveness of the Palestinian export sector. However, increasing labor income from Israel has positive welfare effects for Palestinian households. Considering these results, the paper identifies policy options for the Palestinian National Authority.

Sleep education improves knowledge but not sleep quality among medical students.

Poor sleep quality, often resulting from poor sleep hygiene, is common among medical students. Educational interventions aimed at improving sleep knowledge are beneficial for sleep quality in healthy populations. However, sleep education is often given minimal attention in medical school curriculums. The aim of the study was to explore whether a short educational intervention could improve sleep knowledge, and consequently sleep quality, among medical students. We recruited preclinical- and clinical-stage medical students during the 2017-2018 academic year. Students completed a demographic survey, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Assessment of Sleep Knowledge in Medical Education (ASKME) questionnaire. Students then attended a lecture on the physiology and importance of sleep. To assess the efficacy of the intervention, questionnaires were repeated 4 months thereafter. A total of 87 students (31 preclinical) with a mean age of 25.86 years (standard deviation [SD], 3.33), 51 of whom were women, participated in the study. At baseline, students had poor sleep quality with a PSQI mean score of 5.9 (SD, 2.37), without significant sleepiness, and a mean ESS score of 8.86 (SD, 4.32). The mean ASKME scores were consistent with poor sleep knowledge at 11.87 (SD, 4.32). After the intervention, the mean ASKME results improved to 14.15 (SD, 4.5; P < .001), whereas sleep quality did not. The effect was similar in preclinical and clinical medical students. Sleep knowledge was inadequate among medical students, who also experienced poor sleep quality. A short educational intervention improved sleep knowledge but was insufficient at improving sleep quality. Further studies are needed to determine which interventions may provide benefit in both sleep knowledge and sleep quality.

Moving away from equality: The impact of planning and housing policy on internal migration and women’s employment in Israel

Planning and housing policies influence our daily lives. They determine where we live, where we work, where our children study, and the time it takes us to commute between these places. As such, planning and housing policy often affects individuals’ and households’ satisfaction with each of these and determines the price to be paid by anyone who is not satisfied and wishes to make a change. On the basis of this fundamental premise, we set out to examine how Israel’s planning and housing policy has influenced the decision of middle-class families to migrate away from the metropolitan core and the implications of the move for the employment situations of these families, and of women in these families in particular. The analysis is based on a large survey of women and men in Israel who moved away from the heart of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area into smaller municipalities on its outskirts. The study has three theoretical pillars: planning and housing policy, internal migration, and women’s employment. We examine the relationship between these pillars, focusing on its implications for various aspects of women’s employment. The findings show that women are more likely than men to change their place of work following the move and to suffer a decrease in income, and to trade higher-paying jobs for a shorter commute. These findings show how planning and housing policies can increase gender inequality in the labour market and point to how it can be avoided. This issue is relevant today more than ever in the face of the dramatic changes women’s employment has undergone over the last century, and in particular, in face of the current global housing affordability crisis and its impact on migration trends of middle-class families.

Implications of labor supply specifications in CGE models: A demonstration for employment of Palestinian labor in Israel and its impact on the West Bank economy

Results of general equilibrium models are sensitive to model parameterization and specification. The role of macroeconomic closures and the effect of trade elasticities are documented in the literature, but there is no systematic analysis of the implications of different labor supply specifications for the effect of shocks to labor markets. This study analyzes these implications, using data for the West Bank economy and a general equilibrium model with four different labor market specifications. The findings indicate that increased Palestinian employment in Israel leads to changes in real GDP in the range of −1.8% to ＋3.4%, depending on the model specification. This wide range of effects on macroeconomic aggregates stems from the definition of the production boundary, the implicit assumptions on the opportunity cost of labor in activities outside the production boundary, and the conditions for a transfer of labor across the boundary. Economic theory indicates that the labor-leisure trade-off specification is the most consistent framework for modeling labor supply decisions. However, in the absence of data for activities outside the production boundary of the system of national accounts, the fixed labor supply (full-employment) assumption may be the second-best alternative, although it risks overstating the changes in real wage rates. The surplus labor and upward-sloping labor supply curve specifications both tend to understate the increases in wage rates and overstate the welfare gains.

Labor exports from Palestine to Israel: a boon or bane for the West Bank economy?

Abstract This article analyzes the effects on the West Bank economy of temporary Palestinian employment in Israel, using a new database and a computable general equilibrium model. The results show that Palestinian employment in Israel increases household incomes but distorts the operation of the West Bank labor market and increases domestic wages. Employment in Israel increases the real exchange rate of the West Bank leading to “Dutch disease” effects that inhibit the development of the West Bank economy. A decrease in the number of Palestinian workers in Israel reduces household welfare, and constraints on the West Bank economy restrict domestic absorption of the extra labor. Hence, the Palestinian National Authority may seek more labor exports to Israel. This article contributes to the broader discussion on the effects of migration policies on labor-sending economies by demonstrating the nontrivial benefits from labor migrations, but that these benefits come with costs. This article explores policy options for offsetting those costs.

First Palestinian Intifada and Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital

This paper attempts to estimate the intergenerational transmission of human capital in Palestine. The main question is whether formal parental education improves their offspring’s cognitive skills and school achievements. I use the instrumental variable (IV) method in the estimations to overcome the potential endogeneity of parental education. The main source of variation in parental educational attainment is parents’ exposure to the First Palestinian Intifada (1988–93) during their middle- and high school ages. During the First Palestinian Intifada, many school days were lost due to frequent school closures and other restrictions. Furthermore, many young people preferred to search for low-skill employment in Israel, since it provided them with better wages than the local labor market and hardly required any level of educational attainment. This study employs two outcomes, namely the standardized cognitive test scores and school achievements during the academic year 2012/13 for students between grade 5 and grade 9 in West Bank schools. Overall, the results support the hypothesis of a human capital spillover but more so for girls than for boys, where the IV results are often insignificant because of their large standard errors.

Palestinians in the Israeli labor market: a multi-disciplinary approach

Foreword Moshe Semyonov Introduction Sami Miaari and Nabil Khattab PART I: THE PERSISTENCE OF ETHNIC PENALTIES 1. On the Reserve Bench: Palestinian-Arabs in the Israeli Labour Market Nabil Khattab and Sami Miaari 2. Combating Discrimination against Arab Palestinians in the Israeli Workplace: The Current Enforcement Failure and the Role of the Newly Established EEOC Talya Steiner 3. The persistent Wage Gaps between Arabs and Jews in Israel, 1997-2009 Sami Miaari and Nabil Khattab PART II: THE CHANGING NATURE OF FEMALE EMPLOYMENT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 4. Ethnicity, Gender, and Exclusion: Which Occupations Are Open to Israeli Palestinian women? Vered Kraus and Yuval Yonay 5. Changing Earnings Composition in Israeli-Palestinian Households: The Emergence of the Dual-earner Family Haya Stier 6. Beyond Local Culture and Politics: The New Consumerism Industry and Changing Labor Force Participation of Palestinian Women Erez Marantz, Alexandra Kalev, and Noah Lewin-Epstein 7. The Welfare State as an Employer: An Unacknowledged Avenue of Opportunity for Palestinian Women in Israel Michael Shalev and Amit Lazarus PART III: SEGREGATION MATTERS 8. Barriers for Development of Employment Fields in the Arab Localities and Their Implications Rassem Khamaisi 9. Factors and Obstacles Impeding Economic Development within Palestinian Localities in Israel: The Case of the Food Industry Khaled Abu-Asbah and Muhammad Abu-Nasrah 10. Social and Spatial Examination of Arabs' Employment in Israel Using a Single municipality Scale Ilan Shdema

The Impact of Employment in Israel on the Palestinian Labor Force

This study provides circumstantial evidence for the impact of permits for employment in Israel on the Palestinian labor force in the West Bank during the late Intifada period and its aftermath (2005-2008). The study utilizes a unique dataset that merges data from the Palestinian Labor Force Survey with Israeli administrative data on permits for employment in Israel. The study quantifies the increase in Palestinian employment in the Israeli and Palestinian economies and the decrease in Palestinian unemployment, as well as the drop in the return to schooling which coincided with an increase in the number of permits issued. These results reflect the short-run benefits for the un-skilled Palestinian labor force as well as the adverse long-run effects of Palestinian employment in Israel on human capital accumulation.

The Impact of Employment in Israel on the Palestinian Labor Force

AbstractThis study provides circumstantial evidence for the impact of permits for employment in Israel on the Palestinian labor force in the West Bank during the late Intifada period and its aftermath (2005–2008). The study utilizes a unique dataset that merges data from the Palestinian Labor Force Survey with Israeli administrative data on permits for employment in Israel. The study quantifies the increase in Palestinian employment in the Israeli and Palestinian economies and the decrease in Palestinian unemployment, as well as the drop in the return to schooling in a West Bank governorate, which coincided with an increase in the number of permits issued for residents of that governorate. These results reflect the short-run benefits for the un-skilled Palestinian labor force as well as the adverse long-run effects of Palestinian employment in Israel on human capital accumulation.

Normative or economic behavior? Fertility and women’s employment in Israel

Women’s employment and childrearing are competing activities, which exert much pressure on their time and energy. Many studies have found that women in paid employment, especially in a demanding career, limit their fertility and have few children or none. This negative correlation was explained mainly in terms of opportunity costs and the incompatibility of women’s employment and childrearing. This study focuses on the interplay between women’s employment and fertility decisions in Israel, a socially diverse country, characterized by high levels of both fertility and female employment. We argue that in an environment which supports and encourages high fertility women’s employment activity is less consequential for family planning. The study analyzes simultaneously the decision to have a third child and the decision to work. The findings show that fertility affects negatively women’s work activity, but women’s employment has no effect on their decision to have an additional child. Also, cultural variables affect the fertility decision but not economic considerations, while the opposite holds for the work decision.

The rise in involuntary part-time employment in Israel

The number of involuntary part-time workers in Israel's labor force increased by over 700% during the years 1979–1999, while the number of full-time workers (and the size of the labor force) increased by less than 100% during this period. The paper aims at understanding this rise. Our analyses, using Labor Force Surveys for 1979, 1989 and 1999 as well as annual published labor force statistics, suggest that the increase in unemployment during the period is responsible for part of the rise in the proportion of involuntary part-time workers, but it cannot explain the entire rise. The growth in involuntary part-time employment is primarily due to workers’ (especially women) shifting preferences from part-time to full-time work. The decrease in women's desire for part-time (versus full-time) work is observed among all groups of women 25–64 years old, and is unrelated to changes in the demographic composition of the labor force. The decline in women's propensity to take part-time jobs was exacerbated by employers offering a higher rate of part-time jobs in 1989 than in 1979. In the 1990s, when the total rate of part-time employment hardly changed, the decline in the propensity of women to work part-time voluntarily, “forced” employers to hire more involuntary part-time workers in 1999 than in 1989, in order to keep constant the total proportion of part-time workers.

The Relationship between Economic Hardship and Crime: The Case of Israel and the Palestinians

Numerous theories of crime posit a positive relation between economic hardship and crime, among them rational choice, strain, anomie, social control, and even neo-Marxist models. The present study focuses on the unique framework provided by the large integrated labor force of Palestinian workers employed in Israel over the past few decades. The study was based on time-series analysis of a restricted time period characterized by severe economic hardship among Palestinians due to loss of employment in Israel and increases of crime rates in Israel. A significant positive relationship between economic hardship among Palestinians and property and general crime in Israel was not found; however, a significant positive relationship was obtained in the specific case of motor vehicle theft. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong?Nils A. Butenschon, Uri Davis and Manuel Hassassian, (eds.) Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: Approaches and ApplicationsBenjamin W. Wolkinson, Arab Employment In Israel: The Quest for Equal Employment OpportunityJames A. Bill and John Alden Williams, Roman Catholics and Shii Muslims: Prayer, Passion, and Politics

Israelis versus Palestinians

Michael Brecher is R.B. Angus Professor of Political Science at McGill University and Director of the International Crisis Behaviour Project. He has written several books on the Arab-Israel conflict, including the prize-winning The Foreign Policy System of Israel. Irving Brecher is Emeritus Professor of Economics at McGill University. He was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Montreal-based International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. Among his publications is Human Rights, Development and Foreign Policy: Canadian Perspectives. To everything there is a season, And a time to every purpose under the heaven:... A time to kili, and a time to heal;... A time to [hate], and a time to [love]; A time for war, and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1INTIFADA II IN CONTEXTIt is easy to despair at the turn of events the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has taken since late September 2000: persistent violence; wanton killing and maiming by both sides, mostly of civilians - men and women, children and the elderly; escalating anger and hostility; and an increasingly rigid mindset on the part of leaders on both sides, which makes compromise and concessions even more difficult than usual. The most tragic and disquieting result of Intifada II is the shattering of trust - a fragile, carefully nurtured, intangible gift of the Oslo agreement of September 1993.On the Israeli side, the peace camp has been decimated; and the mood of disappointment after Yassir Arafat rejected the most farreaching Israeli offer of terms for a 'final status' agreement - Ehud Barak at Camp David in July 2000, enriched at the follow-up talks in Taba, Egypt, in January 2001 - has been captured by the near-universal lament among Israelis: 'We do not have a partner for peace.'(1) Moreover, a widespread feeling of personal insecurity descended upon Israel, despite its vast military superiority over the lightly armed Palestinian police, security forces, and militias. Thus, Israelis of all political persuasions have rallied behind Ariel Sharon, one of Israel's most controversial military and political leaders. Less than a year earlier, he had been considered unelectable as prime minister after a formal Israeli commission of inquiry found him 'indirectly responsible' for the 1982 massacre of Palestinians by Christian militia forces in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon.On the Palestinian side, scepticism about the ultimate fruits of the Oslo agreement gradually gave way to mass frustration on three fronts. First was the slow pace of the transfer of territory to the Palestinian Authority (PA) - Prime Ministers Benjamin Necanyahu and Barak had both refused to implement the third phase of with-drawal by Israeli forces, a formal commitment undertaken by Israel in the United States-brokered Wye agreement of October 1997. Secondly, the primary goal of an independent state seemed even more remote with the perpetuation of Israel's occupation of most of the West Bank and a considerable part of the Gaza Strip, the latter never considered a part of the historic Land of Israel. Finally, there was no visible material improvement in daily life. Indeed, the situation had worsened, especially during periods of 'closure' following a suicide bombing or some other act of terror committed by Palestinian foes of any accommodation with Israel - Hamas and Islamic Jihad. At such times more than 100,000 Palestinians whose livelihood depends on employment in Israel are prevented from entering the twice-'Promised Land' (by the British, to the Palestinians in 1915 and to the Jews in 1917). All that Arafat needed as a pretext to launch a new Intifada was a highly visible provocation by 'the enemy.' Sharon, then leader of the Likud opposition, duly provided it with his demonstrative visit in September 2000 to the Temple Mount/Haram-al-Sharif, the holiest shrine for Jews worldwide and a holy place for Muslims. …

The Economy of modern Israel: malaise and promise

In this up-to-date study of the Israeli economy, Assaf Razin and Efraim Sadka cover the entire economic history of the state, focusing on links between Israel's economic growth, its integration into world markets, its tax and welfare systems, and the political conflicts in the Middle East. The authors present the first detailed economic analysis of the Palestinian uprising, showing how the unrest has led to a fall in Arab employment in Israel and serious economic loss to the occupied territories with some loss to Israel. They also examine how the uprising has affected Israel's financial standing internationally and the inflow of foreign aid. Razin and Sadka see promise for Israel's economy in the waves of immigration from the former Soviet Union, despite the current difficulties in absorbing the immigrants; in the coexistence of a flourishing and highly competitive private sector with a relatively large public sector, which is undergoing privatization; and in a tax structure that encourages long-term saving and business growth. By examining the interplay between the exchange rate, interest rates, and monetary and anti-inflation policies, the authors investigate the possibilities for renewed growth and conclude that the future of Israel's economy crucially depends on serious efforts to secure peace in the Middle East.

Worker's Rights during the Uprising

Since the beginning of the occupation, Israel's approach to the Palestinian labor question has been two-pronged: Workers from the occupied territories have been encouraged to work in Israel, albeit under clear restrictions, while any form of organizing by workers has been suppressed to the extent possible. To satisfy the increased demand for manual, mostly unskilled, labor that followed the 1967 War, Israel in 1968 introduced legislation enabling Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to work in Israel. Opening the doors to Palestinian labor fit in with Israel's general policy of economic integration of the territories, designed and executed at the time by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. To control the flow of workers, the government set up labor exchanges in the West Bank and Gaza. By 1988, there were thirty-nine such exchanges, whose main function was not to find work for Palestinian jobseekers but to register those workers who had already found employment in Israel and to recruit additional workers for Israeli employers when the need arose.1 Workers are issued work permits, which must be renewed periodically after their security records have been checked.

Characteristics and Trends in the Israeli Service Economy

Long-term and short-term characteristics of the Israeli service economy are described and analysed. The percentages of service employment in Israel are similar to current ones in developed countries, but a variety of factors make the Israeli case unique. The roots of the Israeli service economy lie in the 1920s when the British established a civil service, while the Jewish population developed the Histadrut, the Jewish Agency, party and municipal services. Meanwhile, the geographical separation between the capital city (Jerusalem), and the largest city (Tel A viv), which became a primate city, encouraged the evolution of services. The constant and very large import of capital, the supply of service-oriented immigrants and the demand for improved health and education services are additional factors. The politicisation of services and bureaucratic activism have a strong impact from a political viewpoint. Altogether, the Israeli service economy has been uniquely structured in an immigration society driven by political rather than economic forces. During the last decade pressures for change have surfaced, due to the development of modern agriculture, manufacturing and domestic consumption. These have increased the finances, insurance and real estate sector, and decreased the dominance of Tel Aviv. The current economic crisis in Israel is interpreted as a crisis of the services.