Labor Hiring Research Articles

Industrial legislation in Australia, 2020

In 2020, the Federal Morrison Liberal Government scrambled to respond to the effects of the international coronavirus pandemic on the Australian labour market in two key ways. First, through largescale social welfare and economic stimulus (the ‘JobKeeper’ scheme) and second, through significant proposed reform to employment laws as part of a pandemic recovery package (the ‘Omnibus Bill’). Where the first measure was administered by employers, the second was largely designed to suspend and/or redefine labour protections in the interests of employers. In this respect, the message from the Federal Government was clear: that the costs of pandemic recovery should be borne by workers at the discretion of employers. State Labor Governments, by contrast, enacted a range of industrial protections. These included the first Australia ‘wage theft’ or underpayment frameworks on behalf of both employees and contractors in the construction industry. On-trend with state industrial legislation over the past 4 years, these state governments continued to introduce industrial manslaughter offences, increased access to workers’ compensation, labour hire licensing schemes and portable long service leave.

Corporate Innovation, Hiring Constraints, and Debt Maturity Structure

I study whether skilled labor hiring constraints affect debt maturity structure. To establish a causal effect, I exploit a large drop in the regulatory cap for the H-1B visa program, which arguably limited the skilled labor supply of innovation, and a difference-in-differences model. Using this estimation framework, I find that innovative firms experience a significant increase in their fraction of shorter maturity debt after the shock. Further, I document that such effect operates through labor adjustment costs and refinancing constraints. Overall, my paper highlights that skilled labor hiring constraints play an important role in firms' debt maturity structure.

The Myth of the Labour Market

24 | International Union Rights | 28/2 FOCUS | A CHANGING POST-PANDEMIC WORLD FOR LABOUR I There are a number of expressions which are particularly grating, especially when spoken by comrades in the trade union movement. Hearing the British Prime Minister referred to affectionately as ‘Boris’ is one, the use of the phrase ‘labour market’ is another. The phrase ‘labour market’ gives a legitimacy to a capitalist mythology in which buying and selling labour is a natural and unalterable part of the human condition, in which humans who work for a living are no more than disposable ‘human resources’ and in which those who sell and those who buy labour have some equivalence of bargaining power as they contemplate the wares on the stalls in the ‘labour market’. These myths are unrelated to the reality of capitalism. For most of the 3 million year of hominid, and the 150 thousand years of human, history there has been no buying or selling of labour; whatever required more than one person to do was done collectively in the common interest: raising the young, caring for the elderly and sick, gathering food, hunting, building shelter and so on. No-one paid or received pay for work. Nor, the anthropologists (e.g. David Graeber, Debt: the first 5,000 years) tell us, did they barter. Those able to help were expected to and did help; favours were met with favours without valuation of equivalence or worth. Humans are cooperative beings and worked co-operatively in their communities. There are still societies which live like that outside the reach of ‘civilisation’. Even in feudal times little labour was paid for, though the landlord took his slice of the peasant’s produce and, often, his labour. It is capitalism which has generated the ‘work/wage bargain’, as scholars of the contract of employment have pointed out. II The idea of a bargain, freely negotiated, is one that underpins the legal mythology of ‘freedom of contract’ at work and supplies the moral justification for enforcing its terms by law. The trouble is that in the world of work there is no such freedom to bargain. For all but a tiny exceptional class of workers who have near unique and indispensable skills, individual workers do not negotiate; each is faced with terms set by the employer on a take it or leave it basis. Workers need to work in order to support themselves and their families; the alternative is dire poverty, as Universal Credit and the demeaning rituals required to obtain it demonstrates. Even our Supreme Court has recognised the fundamental imbalance in power between the worker on the one hand and the employer on the other. Because of that fundamental inequality in bargaining power at the workplace, inherent in capitalism, laws have been put in place to moderate the exploitation of humans by capitalism based on a free market in labour. These laws are modest in the extreme and are just enough to prevent life being so intolerable that the stability of society on which capitalism relies is threatened. So the capitalist establishment (by which we mean parliament and the courts) has placed certain minimal limits on the freedom of employers to exploit their power (though, as we have seen in the COVID-19 pandemic, often these limits are not enforced). Thus the ‘free market’ in the hire of labour has certain (minimal) limits at the extremities of exploitation: laws against slavery and unwarranted deductions from wages, compensation for unfair dismissal and redundancy, minimum health and safety at work requirements, requiring equal pay for equal work, against discrimination on specified grounds, and so on. Trade unions have, of course, supported such measures which are, unsurprisingly, largely (but not universally) welcomed by workers. Employers too have benefitted and enlightened employers have supported such measures. This is because, as well as stabilising society, labour laws tend to increase worker spending power generally. This correspondingly increases demand in the economy and hence benefits employers supplying goods and services. More efficient employers prepared to invest in their businesses also benefit because such measures tend to preclude undercutting on labour costs and hence favour those which invest in competitive advantage by other means...

The Myth of the Labour Market

24 | International Union Rights | 28/2 FOCUS | A CHANGING POST-PANDEMIC WORLD FOR LABOUR I There are a number of expressions which are particularly grating, especially when spoken by comrades in the trade union movement. Hearing the British Prime Minister referred to affectionately as ‘Boris’ is one, the use of the phrase ‘labour market’ is another. The phrase ‘labour market’ gives a legitimacy to a capitalist mythology in which buying and selling labour is a natural and unalterable part of the human condition, in which humans who work for a living are no more than disposable ‘human resources’ and in which those who sell and those who buy labour have some equivalence of bargaining power as they contemplate the wares on the stalls in the ‘labour market’. These myths are unrelated to the reality of capitalism. For most of the 3 million year of hominid, and the 150 thousand years of human, history there has been no buying or selling of labour; whatever required more than one person to do was done collectively in the common interest: raising the young, caring for the elderly and sick, gathering food, hunting, building shelter and so on. No-one paid or received pay for work. Nor, the anthropologists (e.g. David Graeber, Debt: the first 5,000 years) tell us, did they barter. Those able to help were expected to and did help; favours were met with favours without valuation of equivalence or worth. Humans are cooperative beings and worked co-operatively in their communities. There are still societies which live like that outside the reach of ‘civilisation’. Even in feudal times little labour was paid for, though the landlord took his slice of the peasant’s produce and, often, his labour. It is capitalism which has generated the ‘work/wage bargain’, as scholars of the contract of employment have pointed out. II The idea of a bargain, freely negotiated, is one that underpins the legal mythology of ‘freedom of contract’ at work and supplies the moral justification for enforcing its terms by law. The trouble is that in the world of work there is no such freedom to bargain. For all but a tiny exceptional class of workers who have near unique and indispensable skills, individual workers do not negotiate; each is faced with terms set by the employer on a take it or leave it basis. Workers need to work in order to support themselves and their families; the alternative is dire poverty, as Universal Credit and the demeaning rituals required to obtain it demonstrates. Even our Supreme Court has recognised the fundamental imbalance in power between the worker on the one hand and the employer on the other. Because of that fundamental inequality in bargaining power at the workplace, inherent in capitalism, laws have been put in place to moderate the exploitation of humans by capitalism based on a free market in labour. These laws are modest in the extreme and are just enough to prevent life being so intolerable that the stability of society on which capitalism relies is threatened. So the capitalist establishment (by which we mean parliament and the courts) has placed certain minimal limits on the freedom of employers to exploit their power (though, as we have seen in the COVID-19 pandemic, often these limits are not enforced). Thus the ‘free market’ in the hire of labour has certain (minimal) limits at the extremities of exploitation: laws against slavery and unwarranted deductions from wages, compensation for unfair dismissal and redundancy, minimum health and safety at work requirements, requiring equal pay for equal work, against discrimination on specified grounds, and so on. Trade unions have, of course, supported such measures which are, unsurprisingly, largely (but not universally) welcomed by workers. Employers too have benefitted and enlightened employers have supported such measures. This is because, as well as stabilising society, labour laws tend to increase worker spending power generally. This correspondingly increases demand in the economy and hence benefits employers supplying goods and services. More efficient employers prepared to invest in their businesses also benefit because such measures tend to preclude undercutting on labour costs and hence favour those which invest in competitive advantage by other means...

Теоретичні аспекти управління персоналом на великих промислових підприємствах

In recent years, the urgency of finding new forms, methods and organizational and economic mechanisms to improve personnel management in large industrial enterprises has increased. The article substantiates the theoretical principles of personnel management in large industrial enterprises in order to improve the mechanism of ensuring its efficiency. The study found that personnel management is to comprehensively assess the relations in the workforce, which are related to the hiring and supply of labour, its pay, staff turnover, trends and prospects. The purpose of personnel management is to provide employees with the necessary quantitative and qualitative parameters and the organization of their effective work. It is transformed into more specific goals, which are determined by the goals of the enterprise. It is revealed that it is expedient to apply an integrated approach to personnel management, the essence of which is to combine and interact process, system, situational and strategic approaches. The article clarifies the list of functions and tasks of personnel management in a large industrial enterprise, the difference of which is that it includes the entire list of management functions (forecasting, planning, organization, control, analysis, accounting, regulation) a single interconnected set of processes in management staff. On the basis of generalization of scientific developments and results of current practice of functioning of large industrial enterprises the priority directions of improvement of personnel management are offered: maintenance of conditions of professional development of personnel; improving the system of rationing and remuneration; improving working conditions, safety and security; development of social and labour relations and organizational culture in the digital economy; ensuring social protection in the postcoronavirus period; improving the efficiency of work with youth.

Formation of personnel policy at trade enterprises in modern conditions

The purpose of the article is to define the concept of “personnel policy” and substantiateits features in commercial enterprises. Methodology of research. System of economic laws,concepts and categories, fundamental provisions of modern economic theory and applied economics,statistical data. The general methodological basis of the research is an abstract-logical complex approach,methods of analysis and synthesis. Findings. The article identifies scientific approaches tothe definition of “personnel policy”, in particular in trade enterprises, which allowed to define it as themain line of conduct of management staff in relation to the implementation of strategic objectives oftrade enterprises. Outlined types of personnel policy (passive, reactive, preventive, active); functions(planning, hiring and placement of labor, training, preparation, retraining, advanced training, staff evaluation,determining the conditions of employment, labor and its payment, motivation and adherenceto labor discipline, creating a favorable psychological climate in the team, implementation of socialfunctions, control for occupational safety) and tasks. The peculiarities of trade as an industry, whichprovide its connection with changing forms of commodity value and with the continuation of productionprocesses in the field of rotation, and create a basis for professional development of workers, ensuring their competitiveness, which will increase efficiency and effectiveness of trade enterprises. The peculiaritiesof labor in trade, which are associated with the presence of high costs of living labor, nervousand emotional stress of workers, the impact on the scope of probabilistic factors that lead to increasedstress at work, the specifics of labor, not in the product but in the service. Practical value. It is offeredto consider formation of personnel policy of the trade enterprises taking into account features ofpersonnel policy of trade depending on its types. Particular attention is paid to active personnel policy,which provides for the development of targeted and anti-crisis personnel programs depending onchanges in trade; formation of personnel reserve, organization of corporate training in sales technologies,effective communications, team formation, etc. Keywords: work, personnel policy, trade enterprises, personnel policy at trade enterprises, typesof personnel policy, functions of personnel policy. REFERENCES 1. Vesnіn, V. R. (2011). Upravlenіe personalom.Teorіia і praktіka [Personnel management.Theory and practice]. Moscow : Prospekt [inRussian]. 2. Balabanova, L. V. & Sardak, O. V. (2006)Upravlinnia personalom [Personnel management].Donetsk : DonDUET [in Ukrainian]. 3. Spivak, V. A. (2000). Orhanizatsyonnoepovedeniei upravlenie personalom. [Organizationalbehavior and personnel management].Sankt-Petesburg : Izdatelstvo “Piter”[in Russian]. 4. Krushelnytska, O. V. & Melnychuk, D. P.(2003). Upravlinnia personalom [Personnelmanagement]. Kyiv : Kondor [in Ukrainian]. 5. Kolpakov, V. M. & Dmitrenko, H. A. (2005).Stratehicheskii kadrovyi menedzhment [Strategicpersonnel management]. Kyiv : MAUP[in Russian]. 6. Hetman, O. O. & Shapoval, V. M. (2006).Ekonomika pidpryiemstva [Business Economics].Kyiv : Tsentr navchalnoi literatury[in Ukrainian]. 7. Novykov, V. M. (2000). Orhanizatsiia i rozvytoksotsialnoi sfery (zarubizhnyi i vitchyznianyidosvid). [Organization and developmentof the social sphere (foreign anddomestic experience)]. Kyiv : In-t ekonomikyNAN Ukrainy [in Ukrainian]. 8. Melnychuk, D. P. (2002). Kadrova politykavsystemi sotsialno-adekvatnoho upravlinnia.[Personnel policy in the system of sociallyadequate management]. Visnyk Zhytomyrskohoinzhenerno-tekhnolohichnoho instytutu. Ekonomichninauky – Bulletin of the ZhytomyrInstitute of Engineering and Technology. Economicsciences, 22, 308–313 [in Ukrainian]. Published: 2021-05-27

Some issues of the procedure on making a labour contract and hiring to work

Some issues of the procedure on making a labour contract and hiring to work

Non-Regular Workers and Employment Relations in Agro based Industry: A Study on Rice Mills in West Bengal

With business enterprises resorting to different structural adjustments to align themselves with the dynamic economic scenario,the trend to hire non-regular workers has become a very common and the most sought after practice by the owners in presenttimes. Non-regular workers are the most common victims of issues related to wage disparity, job insecurity, little or no decentwork etc. cutting across different countries around the globe. In India there is an exhaustive mechanism of labour laws is well inplace to control and prevent the exploitative practices in the name of hiring of labour of different nomenclatures. However, theengagement of non-regular workers in India is well on rise, specifically in the agro based sector which are mostly informal innature. The real condition of non-regular workers remains unveiled owing to little or no accessibility allowed by the owners ofenterprises to conduct research. As such it becomes all the more imperative to study different aspects related to non-regularworkers and employment relations in the agro based industries. The present research attempts to understand the patterns of nonregular employment and how the workers perceive employment relations in the Rice Mills in the State of West Bengal in India.The Rice Mills are heavily labour intensive and mainly depend on non-regular workers to carry on the daily operations.Qualitative research approach using Focus Group Meeting (FGM) has been ascertained to conduct the present research

Vegetable production under COVID-19 pandemic in China: An analysis based on the data of 526 households

The COVID-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on the vegetable supply chain in China. Effective evaluation of the pandemic's influences on vegetable production is vital for policy settings to enhance the security of vegetable supply. Based on first-hand data from 526 households, we explored regional differences in different types of loss and potential factors affecting the severity farmer households suffered during the pandemic. The results underline that sales contraction and price volatility in the context of interruption of supply chain dominate the total losses during the pandemic. Such losses differ across provinces and are more substantial in provinces with stricter confinement measures. Farmer households' participation in local market and modern marketing methods helps mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 shock, while labor hiring and facilities adoption in production widen the losses due to the shortage in the workforce. In the future, the vegetable industry practitioners and relevant government departments should work together to coordinate the development of short and long supply chains and strengthen the stability and security of the vegetable supply chain.

Smuggled Sheep, Smuggled Shepherds: Farm Labour Transformations in Namibia and the Question of Southern Angola, 1933–1975

This article considers the history of labour relations within Namibia’s agricultural sector, with specific emphasis on the karakul sheep industry. It examines debates concerning shortages of shepherds and the increasing efforts on the part of (white) sheep farmers in southern Namibia to import contract labourers from northern Namibia and southern Angola. The ability of local Nama labourers in southern Namibia to desert abusive employers and return to reserves (albeit overcrowded) caused farmers to rely increasingly, from the late 1930s, on migrant shepherds, with illegally recruited Angolans rising in importance – making up over 40 per cent of total recruits throughout the mid 20th century. The reopening of Namibia’s mines and industries after the Second World War, alongside increased Portuguese recruitment of Angolans from Cunene province for their own karakul industry (founded with smuggled rams), caused white farmers to change strategy abruptly from the mid 1950s. With heavy subsidies from the South West Africa Administration, farmers invested in labour-saving technological improvements on the sheep farms themselves, particularly jackal-proof fencing, transforming a shepherd-intensive industry into a near shepherdless one in less than a decade. This, along with the development of homeland structures, gave white farmers the leverage to reinvigorate informal, ad hoc labour hire. Using Namibian, Angolan and South African sources, this article reconstructs the transnational political economy of labour in Namibia’s sheep-farming sector, and it considers how transformations in agricultural technology restructures labour hire, often away from ‘formal’ contract waged labour towards other forms of exploitative labour relations.

Effect of Unskilled Labor on Firm’s Productivity: A Case on Naz Textile, Karachi, Pakistan

The subject matter of this case study is to show what variable causes low productivity and limiting its full potential mainly focusing on the textile firm of Pakistan namely Naz Textile Limited (NTL). The approach used in this study was of Practice-oriented case study approach from which we followed a descriptive case study research method. The productivity is dependent on two main factors namely machinery and labors, in which we traced with the help of evidence that the problem of low productivity was caused by the recent hiring of unskilled labor, the reason or hiring unskilled labor was due to scarcity of skilled labor and low budget of the firm available to hire if any highly skilled labor is to be found. Following the process, we found out that the only solution left for the firm is to convert the unskilled to skilled labor that can only be possible with the help of training. The training can be provided to the unskilled labor through various methods such as On the Job training and Off the Job training methods. The firm must also establish a Training department that can choose the right training methods; this department can be headed by the most experienced labor or any other hired professional trainer for a technical institute which can also monitor the whole production processes. This case study’s main focus was to increase the Practitioner firm Naz Textile’s knowledge to increase their productivity without large expenses to be incurred and achieving success in less time. These methods can be applied to any firm related not only to the textile field but also be used for other manufacturing firms located in different sectors.

The Potential for International Regulation of Gig Economy Issues

The rapidly increasing hire of labour through platforms or ‘apps’ has attracted considerable attention. Most current debates focus on whether those engaged in ‘gig economy’ work can be characterise...

LAS PLATAFORMAS DIGITALES DE TRABAJO: ¿ES NECESARIA UNA REGULACIÓN INTERNACIONAL?

espanolLas plataformas laborales de trabajo, alojadas en Internet, permiten la contratacion de trabajo en tiempo real para multitud de tareas, desde la programacion al diseno grafico o tareas administrativas rutinarias. La facilidad, flexibilidad y bajo coste de subcontratar trabajo a traves de estas plataformas digitales explican su crecimiento, que se preve que continue en el futuro. Sin embargo, estas actividades en linea suponen importantes retos regulatorios que no pueden ser abordados unicamente mediante respuestas nacionales. Reconociendo estas dificultades, la Comision Mundial de la OIT sobre el Futuro del Trabajo recomendo el establecimiento de un sistema de gobernanza internacional que pudiera establecer y requerir a las plataformas digitales - y a sus clientes - respetar ciertos derechos minimos y proteccion para todos los trabajadores de plataformas. Este articulo discute las perspectivas y retos inherentes en las plataformas digitales internacionales en linea para los trabajadores, operadores y reguladores, y formula propuestas para el establecimiento de un marco regulatorio internacional para estas nuevas formas de trabajo. EnglishWeb-based, digital labour platforms permit the real-time hiring of labour for a myriad of tasks from IT programming to graphic design to routine clerical tasks. The ease, flexibility and low-cost of outsourcing work to digital labour platforms has resulted in their growth, and this growth is likely to continue in the future. Yet these online activities pose important regulatory challenges that cannot effectively be addressed solely through national responses. Recognizing these difficulties, the ILO’s Global Commission on the Future of Work called for an international governance system for digital labour platforms that could set and require platforms, and their clients, to respect certain minimum rights and protections for all workers. This paper will discuss the prospects and challenges inherent in cross-border, web-based, digital labour platforms for workers, operators, and regulators and put forward possibilities for establishing an international regulatory framework for these new forms of work.

THE PARADIGM OF MICRO ENTERPRISES AS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN PAKISTAN (CASE STUDY: PESHAWAR URBAN MARKET)

Micro enterprise in Pakistani cities is a survival economy for those who do not have a chance to enter the labor market as well as for those who desire to shape their destiny as an entrepreneur. In the last century, access to economic life through microenterprises was possible even without or at a very low level of training. In today’s world of specialization where micro enterprise not only play significant role in the form of entry to business world but also prove to serve as input provider to small, middle and large scale enterprises, and in addition to this micro enterprises have also become capable of innovation. In this context micro enterprises have started providing training and skill to the new entrants in the form of apprenticeship because hiring of skilled labor increases per unit cost of production. Hence training, apprentice and production of skilled labor at micro enterprises have not only strengthened the role of micro enterprises as a factor for economic development, but have also become an effective tool for social institutions. Hence this research is carried out with the objective to determine the role of micro enterprises in economic development and to assess the apprenticeship at micro enterprises as social institutionalization. Data was collected from micro enterprises about the indicator of economic success and target group for social institutionalization were apprentice working at micro enterprises in Peshawar. The analyzed data showed significant contributions of micro enterprises both in economic development and social institutionalization.

Labor hiring and stock return: A model and new evidence from China

Labor input is an important factor in a firm's production and affects stock return. We use an optimization model to explore the stock return-labor hiring relation with the effects of employment frictions and labor supply. Our model illustrates that labor hiring is negatively related to the expected stock return from the discount rate channel; the negative return-hiring relation becomes steeper when the firm's employment frictions are higher; positive labor supply shock leads to a flatter return-hiring relation. Using Chinese-listed firm data, we provide evidence for the existence of the return-hiring relation and the impact of employment frictions and labor supply confirming the theoretical predictions.

Regulating Australia’s ‘Gangmasters’ through Labour Hire Licensing

This article examines the recent introduction of state-based regulation to address the increasingly prominent problem of exploitation of vulnerable workers by labour hire providers around Australia. Mounting evidence of underpayments and other breaches of workplace laws has emerged from a range of state and federal inquiries into the labour hire sector in recent years. The article draws parallels between these abuses and the exploitative activities of ‘gangmasters’ in industrial-era Britain. It then closely analyses and compares the labour hire licensing schemes introduced in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, which aim to combat non-compliance by introducing barriers to entry and eliminate ‘rogue’ operators from the labour hire market. The article assesses the effectiveness of similar licensing and registration schemes in several overseas jurisdictions, especially the gangmasters licensing scheme operating in the UK since 2004. The article concludes that the licensing schemes introduced under the three state laws are a timely, and most likely, effective new approach to tackling the problem of non-compliance with workplace and other laws. Alternative responses to exploitation at the federal level are also considered, including the 2017 Vulnerable Workers legislation introduced largely in response to systemic underpayments in the 7-Eleven franchise network. Finally, the article observes that federal reform of the labour hire sector may emerge in the near future, given the Labor Opposition’s policy commitment to introduce a national labour hire licensing scheme. In the meantime, the state labour hire licensing schemes examined in this article represent an important step forward in regulation to combat worker exploitation by contemporary Australian ‘gangmasters’.

Unlocking the Myths of Asset Size Expansion of China's Large SOEs - Theory and Evidence

This paper proposes a theoretical framework to illustrate the incentives of the exponential growth of the asset size of China’s large state-owned enterprises in the past decades. We come up with the views that there are 3 types of incentives that lead to the expansion of asset size of large SOEs in China. First, the SOE manager is interested in maximizing her/his own private control of benefits through expanding the asset size of SOEs, which we call the business empire building effect. Second, the state seeks more tax revenue through the larger asset size of SOEs, which could be called the state predatory effect. Third, state benevolent effect in which the state is also concerned with ‘social welfare’ in terms of increasing labour hiring or larger asset size of SOEs for the sake of social stability. The empirical evidences presented in the end are broadly consistent with the theories proposed in the paper. Our empirical results are also robust when the simultaneous equation techniques are used. In the end of the paper, we also use the IV regression in order to resolve the problems of endogeneity.

Evaluation of labor hiring policies in construction projects performance using system dynamics

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess different labor hiring policies for construction projects using system dynamics (SD) which have a considerable impact on project performance. Time intervals and work crew composition are two such policies. Through the implementation of a variety of policies, a managerial opportunity presents itself for the effective allocation of human resources and improvement in project performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study developed a dynamic model to assess different labor hiring policies using SD based on literature. To further distinguish between findings, the effects of the applied policies on performance were considered using earned value management. Based on a real case for validating the model, the paper discusses the potential benefits of the model, including: having a systematic and holistic view, considering dynamic the labor need and allocation, identifying alternative strategies for performance improvement and simulating the reality of the projects in a virtual model.FindingsThe achieved simulation results show how different hiring policies affect project performance. This research model can aid decision makers to assess labor hiring policies in various time intervals with different compositions and assist them in selecting the best policies for effective implementation of project.Originality/valueThe proposed model would be a major attempt using SD to model labor hiring policies more accurate in construction projects performance. In fact, an accurate estimate of labor needed, along with the proper planning and implementing of various labor hiring policies, presents a managerial opportunity whereby the effective allocation of workforces can be optimized leading to drastic improvement in project performance.

Gender analysis of educational inequality among rural children of school-age in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract. Educational inequality has been accepted widely as an indicator of wellbeing. However, in most developing countries, very little attention has been paid to it. This article examined the gender differences in educational inequality among rural children of school-age in Kwara state, Nigeria. Using a three-stage random sampling technique, 200 rural households were sampled for data collection. Analytical tools used are descriptive statistics, the Gini-coefficient and the Ordinary Least Square regression analysis. The result of the analysis showed educational inequality for boys and girls was 0.4 and 0.5, respectively. Educational inequality among children of school-age was significantly determined by the age of household heads, education status of the household heads, marital status, main occupation of the household head, household size, dependency ratio, farm size, cost of schooling, average time spent by children in farm work and asset-base of the households. It was therefore recommended that strategies that will promote mothers’ education be put in place as well as the provision of accessible credit schemes. This can help in the hiring of labour for farm and non-farm businesses thereby increasing production, while providing the household with more funds to enroll their children in schools.

Regulating Australia’s ‘Gangmasters’ through Labour Hire Licensing

This article examines the recent introduction of state-based regulation to address the increasingly prominent problem of exploitation of vulnerable workers by labour hire providers around Australia. Mounting evidence of underpayments and other breaches of workplace laws has emerged from a range of state and federal inquiries into the labour hire sector in recent years. The article draws parallels between these abuses and the exploitative activities of ‘gangmasters’ in industrial-era Britain. It then closely analyses and compares the labour hire licensing schemes introduced in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, which aim to combat noncompliance by introducing barriers to entry and eliminate ‘rogue’ operators from the labour hire market. The article assesses the effectiveness of similar licensing and registration schemes in several overseas jurisdictions, especially the gangmasters licensing scheme operating in the United Kingdom since 2004. The article concludes that the licensing schemes introduced under the three state laws are a timely and, most likely, effective new approach to tackling the problem of noncompliance with workplace and other laws. Alternative responses to exploitation at the federal level are also considered, including the 2017 Vulnerable Workers legislation introduced largely in response to systemic underpayments in the 7-Eleven franchise network. Finally, the article observes that federal reform of the labour hire sector may emerge in the near future, given the Labor Opposition’s policy commitment to introduce a national labour hire licensing scheme. In the meantime, the state labour hire licensing schemes examined in this article represent an important step forward in regulation to combat worker exploitation by contemporary Australian ‘gangmasters’.