Labor Hiring Research Articles

Papadopoulos v MC Labour Hire Services Pty Ltd and Another (No 4)

Papadopoulos v MC Labour Hire Services Pty Ltd and Another (No 4)

Racial geographies and the challenges of day labor formalization: a case study from San Diego County

Recent debates surrounding immigration in the United States have brought renewed attention to day laborers. In their search for employment, day laborers temporarily occupy public and quasi-public spaces. The visibility of day labor and the appearance of day labor hiring sites raise new questions about public space and its ‘proper’ use. The establishment of a new day labor hiring site often creates a locational conflict. Creating formal spaces for day labor congregation is the current ‘best-solution’ for controlling day labor and eliminating community conflict that often surrounds informal day labor hiring sites. Drawing on an ethnographic research project at a formal day workers’ center in San Diego County, the paper shows how the effectiveness of formalization efforts is highly dependent on the particular geographies of day labor in a neighborhood. Our overall argument is that racial categories and processes of racialization that are part of the geographies of day labor impact the effectiveness of formal day labor sites. Moreover, it is argued that processes of racialization often work to promote conflict and/or cooperation among day laborers themselves and between day laborers and employers.

The optimal harvest and management in the models of animal populations

We extended zero-cost optimization model for population of domestic animals. Also the model of hiring of labor in cattle-breeding farm is constructed and investigated.

Characterizing land-use diversity in village landscapes for sustainable mountain development: a case study from Indian Himalaya

This study aimed to analyze the ecological, socio-economic and policy implications of land-use diversity in a traditional village landscape (900–1,000 m amsl.) in the Garhwal region of Indian Himalaya. The village landscape was differentiated into three major land-use types viz., forests, settled agriculture and shifting agriculture. Settled agriculture was further differentiated into four agroecosystem types viz., homegarden system (HGS), rainfed agroforestry system (RAS), rainfed crop system (RCS) and irrigated crop system (ICS), and shifting agriculture system (SAS) was differentiated into different stages of a 4-year long cropping phase and a 7-year long fallow phase, and forests into Community Forests (CF) and Reserve Forests (RF). HGS is the most productive agroecosystem, with soil organic carbon and nutrient concentrations significantly higher than all other forest/agricultural land-uses. Farmers capitalize upon crop diversity to cope with the risks and uncertainties of a monsoon climate and spatial variability in ecological factors influencing productivity. The SAS, a land-use adopted as a means of acquiring inheritable rights over larger land holdings provided in the policies during the 1890s, is less efficient in terms of land productivity than the traditional RAS and HGS but is maintained for its high labour productivity coupled with availability of high-quality fuelwood from fallow vegetation. Dominance of fodder trees in the RAS seems to derive from policies causing shortage of fodder available from forests. Cultural norms have favoured equity by allowing hiring of labour only from within the village community and income from non-timber forest products only to the weaker section of the society. Conversion of rainfed to irrigated cropping, a change facilitated by the government, improves agricultural productivity but also increases pressure on forests due to higher rates of farmyard manure input to the irrigated crops. Existing forest management systems are not effective in maintenance of a large basal area in forests together with high levels of species richness, soil fertility and resistance to invasive alien species Lantana camara. Farmers have to spend huge amount of labour and time in producing manure, managing livestock and other subsidiary farm activities. Interlinkages among agriculture, forests and rural economy suggest a need of replacing the present policies of treating agricultural development, forest conservation and economic development as independent sectors by an integrated sustainable development policy. The policy should promote technological and institutional innovations enabling parallel improvements in agricultural productivity and functions of forest ecosystems.

Barriers to Efficiency and the Privatisation of Township-Village Enterprises

Qian (2000) and others suggest that post-1994 tax and banking reforms in China, combined with the development of markets for allocating resources, influenced the economic performance of township-village enterprises (TVEs) and private enterprises (PEs). This paper uses Chinese provincial level data to search for evidence of advantages and/or disadvantages offered to TVEs and PEs before and after the 1994 reforms. We define a sectoral net income-based measure of overall efficiency and decompose the measure into components that highlight the existence of credit constraints, output target constraints and labour hiring constraints. The results offer empirical support for Qian and others explanation of why private enterprises eventually emerged as the dominant institution for allocating resources in post-1994 rural China.

Empirical Study of Employment Arrangements and Precariousness in Australia

Much research on precarious employment compares permanent workers with one or two other broadly-defined employment categories. We developed a more refined method of examining precariousness by defining current employment arrangements in terms of job characteristics. These employment arrangement categories were then compared in terms of socio-demographics and self-reported job insecurity. This investigation was based on a cross-sectional population-based survey of a random sample of 1,101 working Australians. Eight mutually exclusive employment categories were identified: Permanent Full-time (46.4%), Permanent Part-time (18.3%), Casual Full-time (2.7%), Casual Part-time (9.3%), Fixed Term Contract (2.1%), Labour Hire (3.6%), Own Account Self-employed (7.4%), and Other Self-employed (9.5%). These showed significant and coherent differences in job characteristics, socio-demographics and perceived job insecurity. These empirically-supported categories may provide a conceptual guide for government agencies, policy makers and researchers in areas including occupational health and safety, taxation, labour market regulations, the working poor, child poverty, benefit programs, industrial relations, and skills development.

The Labour Process in Rural Haryana (India): A Field-Report from Two Villages

Forms of labour hiring and the extent of unemployment are analysed using primary data collected from two villages in Haryana (India) during 2002–3. Data from these villages show that wage labourers, particularly women, faced extremely high levels of unemployment. Employment in agriculture was limited and new forms of labour hiring contracts had emerged under conditions of high unemployment. Earnings of manual workers were very low and gender disparities in wages very high. In one of the villages, a high concentration of landholdings and a decline in labour use facilitated the use of long-term workers. Labour relations were characterized by significant degrees of unfreedom, although the extent and nature of unfreedom varied considerably between casual and long-term workers, and between the two villages. In particular, long-term siri workers worked under conditions that were akin to bondage. It is argued that a very high degree of unemployment, combined with unequal caste and land relations and dependence on employers for credit, contributed to sustenance of unfree labour relations in rural Haryana.

The OHS regulatory challenges posed by agency workers: evidence from Australia

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to analyse the problems for occupational health and safety (OHS) regulators posed by agency work/leased labour (also known as labour hire in Australasia), using Australian evidence.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on an examination of prosecutions involving labour hire firms along with other documentary records (union, industry and government reports and guidance material). The study also draws on interviews with approximately 200 regulatory officials, employers and union representatives since 2001 and workplace visits with 40 OHS inspectors in 2004‐2005.FindingsThe triangular relationship entailed in labour leasing, in combination with the temporary nature of most placements, poses serious problems for government agencies in terms of enforcing OHS standards notwithstanding a growing number of successful prosecutions for breaches of legislative duties by host and labour leasing firms.Research limitations/implicationsResearch to investigate these issues in other countries and compare findings with those for Australia is required, along with assessing the effectiveness of new enforcement initiatives.Practical implicationsThe paper assesses existing regulatory responses and highlights the need for new regulatory strategies to combat the problems posed by labour.Originality/valueThe OHS problems posed by agency work have received comparatively little attention. The paper provides insights into the specific problems posed for OHS regulators and how inspectorates are trying to address them.

The Growth of Labour Hire Employment in Australia

This paper was released in February 2005. This paper is part of an ongoing labour market research program at the Productivity Commission to examine developments in employment relationships and the implications of these developments for the labour force and the Australian economy. The series seeks to produce analysis to inform the policy debate by characterising how different forms of employment contribute to the Australian economy. This paper examines how the rapid growth of labour hire employment can be attributed to how firms manage their workforce, rather than to changes in the economy's structure. For example changes in operating environments contributed to firms' altering of their employment strategy in favour of labour hire workers through the changing industrial relations context and rising competitive pressures.

Economic trends and drivers affecting the Wheatbelt of Western Australia to 2030

Most of the farm businesses in Western Australia remain profitable, with rates of return comparable with non-farming sectors. However, there is continuing pressure on poor-performing farms, as well as a range of social pressures, which mean that there will continue to be a steady fall in the number of farms in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia. Most remaining farms will continue to be profitable, due in significant part to successful research and development (R&D). Farms will continue to be highly diversified. We expect the real prices of most agricultural commodities to continue to fall, although we note predictions for meat prices to rise in the medium to long-term. Key uncertainties about price trends include: future levels of agricultural protection in developed counties; the levels of price premia for ‘green’ products; the rates of productivity improvement for agriculture in developing countries; and energy prices. Key uncertainties about R&D/technology include the availability of funds for R&D, and the contributions of biotechnologies. Use of information technologies will increase, although not as much as some expect, and in some cases driven by shortages of skilled farm labour rather than production advantages. The fundamental elements of managing a farm have altered little, and we do not expect them to change in the next 30 years. Successful farm management will continue to depend largely on good decisions about the farm’s enterprise mix, machinery replacement, land leasing or purchase, labour hiring, and off-farm investments. Agricultural R&D should continue to address a diversified portfolio of issues, including attention to environmental issues, but not neglecting the need for ongoing productivity improvements in agriculture.

Labor and the Market Value of the Firm

What role does labor play in firms' market value? We use a production-based asset pricing model with factor adjustment costs and forward-looking agents to explore this question. We posit that the hiring of labor is akin to investment in capital and that the two interact, with the interaction being a crucial determinant of the dynamic behavior of market value. Using aggregate US corporate sector data, we estimate firms' optimal hiring and investment decisions and the consequences for firms' value. (JEL E22, E24, G31, G32, M51)

Labor and the Market Value of the Firm

What role does labor play in firms' market value? We explore this question using a production-based asset pricing model with frictions in the adjustment of both capital and labor. We posit that hiring of labor is akin to investment in capital and that the two interact, with the interaction being a crucial determinant of market value behavior. We use aggregate U.S. corporate sector data to estimate firms' optimal hiring and investment decisions and the consequences for firms' value. We then decompose this value, thereby quantifying the link between firms' market value and gross hiring flows, employment, gross investment and physical capital. We find that a conventional specification - quadratic adjustment costs for capital and no hiring costs - performs poorly. Rather hiring and investment flows, unlike employment and capital stocks, are volatile and both are essential to account for market volatility. A key result is that firms' value embodies the value of hiring and investment over and above the capital stock.

Factor Utilisation and Productivity Estimates for the United Kingdom

This paper derives series for capital utilisation, labour effort and total factor productivity (TFP) from a general equilibrium model with variable factor utilisation and labour adjustment costs. Impulse responses from the model show that firms initially respond to unanticipated shocks by altering factor utilisation rates. In subsequent periods, firms adjust observable inputs such as physical capital and employment. As a result, utilisation rates are a leading indicator of firms' hiring of both capital and labour. We find that our estimate of capital utilisation tracks survey-based measures quite closely, while movements in total hours worked drive our labour effort series. Our estimate of TFP growth is found to be less cyclical than the rate of growth of a traditional Solow residual. Nevertheless, a weighted average of capital utilisation and labour effort - aggregate factor utilisation - is not closely related to the detrended Solow residual. This suggests that measures that conflate capacity utilisation and temporary deviations in TFP from its steady-state growth rate may be misleading indicators of excess demand pressure. Rather, our measure of aggregate factor utilisation is correlated with detrended labour productivity, providing more evidence that differences in average and marginal labour productivity may be linked to factor hoarding. Labour productivity, when calculated as output per unit of effective labour input, is less cyclical than a simple measure of output per hour.

Oligopsonistic Landlords, Segmented Labor Markets, and the Persistence of Tied‐Labor Contracts

AbstractThis article examines contractual labor arrangements in agrarian economies that persist as a consequence of market power on the part of landlords faced with output uncertainty. We show that a segmented labor market characterized by tied‐labor contracts and involuntary unemployment in the lean season are optimal as compared to a labor hiring arrangement that guarantees full employment of labor in both seasons. Government intervention in the form of a specific subsidy targeted toward the hiring of permanent laborers may raise the welfare of all laborers while a specific subsidy directed toward the hiring of casual laborers or the institution of relief programs that absorb the rural unemployed in the lean season leads to the casual laborers in the economy being worse off.

Women's employment in Bangladesh agriculture: composition, determinants and scope

Gender composition of labour use and factors determining demand and supply of female labour in crop production is examined using survey data from 14 villages in two agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh. The share of women in labour use ranges between 11–18% in foodgrain (rice and wheat) and 14–48% in non-cereal (highest for vegetables) production. Incidence of female labour hire is very low and varies directly with land size classes while supply from family varies inversely. Cultivation of diverse crops (local and modern varieties of rice, jute, oilseeds and vegetables), education as well as women's ownership of land increases demand for hired female labour. On the other hand, membership in non-governmental organisation and women's ownership of land decreases supply of female labour from the family. Also, sharp regional variation exists in hiring female labour. A decentralised crop diversification policy, gender sensitive educational program as well as institutional arrangement to increase women's access to land would promote women's gainful employment.

Some Policy Implications of the Resurfacing of Rural Factor Markets Following Agrarian De-collectivization in Ethiopia

Prior to 1975, agriculture in Ethiopia was organized largely under feudalistic/imperial arrangements. The Ethiopian military government (1974–1991)issued the Land Reform Proclamation in 1975 which nationalized and redistributed most of the agricultural land among rural households. Land redistribution was meant to achieve equal land area per household and improve agricultural performance. Sale of land and hiring of agricultural labor were prohibited and there were fears that livestock would be nationalized. Following the ousting of the military regime in 1991, there has been a reduction of the imperfections in rural factor markets. Results from a field survey in the central Ethiopian highlands indicate that selling, hiring, renting, and exchanging of agricultural land, farm labor, and animal traction are increasing. These changes will influence agricultural production in many ways, particularly if reform with respect to rural factor markets is encouraged and accorded appropriate policy support.

Gender roles in the household and farming systems of Tchenzema, Morogoro - Tanzania

The purpose of the study was to determine gender roles in a matrilineal society in domestic and crop production activities. The role of gender in decision making was also investigated. The study was conducted in Tchenzema ward in the Western Uluguru mountain Morogoro, Tanzania. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data while secondary data was obtained from the literature. The study findings show that females of all ages did all the domestic work except fuel wood collection which was done by males of all ages. There was no clear cut division of labour between gender in either cash or food crop production. Decision on production and resource allocation were done jointly between spouses while decision on hire of labour was mostly done by men. Gender production relations in the society studied differs from those in patrilineal societies. It was recommended that the extension service and development projects should address both gender equally. Extension meetings should be organised at times and places that would enable women to attend.

Outsourcing, Contracting-out and Labour Hire: Implications for Human Resource Development in Australian Organizations

Outsourcing, contracting-out and the use of labour hire all have potentially dramatic consequences for HRM and human resource development in partic ular. Advocates of outsourcing have traditionally...

The Victorian Labour Hire Maintenance Workers’ Strike of 1997

AbstractThe trend towards outsourcing maintenance functions to labour hire firms raises questions about the capacity of unions to maintain membership levels and employment standards amongst an increasingly casualised labour hire workforce. The Victorian manufacturing maintenance sector has experienced substantial outsourcing to labour hire firms, but unions in this sector have maintained membership levels and established enterprise agreements to govern employment of labour hire workers. In 1997, labour hire workers in this sector struck for almost 7 weeks in support of a wage claim. This paper outlines the nature of employment regulation of labour hire firms in Victorian manufacturing maintenance and the factors leading to the 1997 dispute. It analyses how the union organised industrial action and how the employers responded. The conclusion explores some questions about collective action by labour hire workers, and highlights some problems of dispute resolution under the current regulatory regime.

Land Reforms in the Presence of Monitoring Costs and International Trade

This paper elucidates the implications of transaction costs in agrarian labor hiring activities in a two‐sector model of international trade and identifies a link between the size distribution of land and intersectoral allocation of productive inputs. Ceteris paribus, a more unequal distribution of land increases the amount of outmigration from agriculture, a shrinkage of the production possibility set, and a decrease (increase) in the volume of trade if and only if agriculture is the exportable (importable) sector. In addition, nonintervention in factor and commodity markets is constrained optimal only when land redistribution is not a feasible policy option.