Labor-intensive Sectors Research Articles

Značaj tehnološkog napretka u mjerenju ekonomskog rasta u Bosni i Hercegovini

Economic growth is one of the most important concepts in the world economy. Although some authors critically believe that the level and rates of economic growth do not necessarily reflect the actual standard of living, it still remains the main way to measure a country's well-being. Different views on the topic of economic growth, as well as the factors that influence it, have been present throughout the history of economic thought from the very beginning. Unlike many theories of economic growth, which believe that in the long run there will be diminishing returns on factors of production such as labor and capital, Paul Romer in his theory of endogenous growth believes that technological progress, through knowledge accumulation, idea creation and innovation, leads to increasing returns, and thus contributes more to long-term economic growth, unlike other factors. In this paper, on the example of economic growth in B&H, the hypothesis that the activities of knowledge-based services contribute more to the gross domestic product, compared to other sectors was tested. To prove the hypothesis, a multiple linear regression model was made based on a time series of 48 consecutive quarterly values of B&H gross domestic product and sectoral gross value added according to the income and production approach. In the model, activities were grouped into those that are predominantly labor-intensive, knowledge-based services, personal and social services, and other activities. The results showed that the average value of gross value added per worker employed in the sectors of knowledge-based services has a 2.5 higher contribution compared to a worker in the labour-intensive sectors and a 2.47 higher contribution compared to one worker in the personal and social services segment. Also, tests of the implemented model show that additional employment in the sectors of knowledge-based services leads to accelerated economic growth in B&H.

Technology impact on transformation of the labor markets and society sustainable development

New technologies have an ambiguous impact on the labor market, therefore, the possibility of sustainable development of modern society in the context of a radical transformation of the nature and content of labor is today the subject of controversy among world scientists and experts. Technological innovations of the last century reduced to a minimum jobs in labor-intensive sectors of the economy (for example, in agriculture), contributed to an increase in labor productivity, which allowed developed countries to invest in high technologies. The current stage of technological development is of a stochastic nature - new sectors of the economy appear unexpectedly, but grow very rapidly. Given the unpredictability of short-term and Long-team demand in the world’s labor markets, social instability in the world is growing. The article substantiates the need to adapt society to new technologies that replace human labor by developing cognitive competencies, creative abilities, and strategic thinking.

Endüstri 4.0 Sürecinin Hazır Giyim İşletmeleri Üzerindeki Etkileri: Hugo Boss Türkiye Örneği (Effects of Industry 4.0 Process on Garment Businesses: The Case Study of Hugo Boss Turkey)

Purpose – To set an example for other garment enterprises by explaining how digitalization efforts developed and implemented in labor intensive garment sector accelerated by industry 4.0 process. Design/methodology/approach – Since the Industry 4.0 process is a new concept, there are few enterprises that can be studied. For this reason, the business selected in the study was selected by choosing criterion case sampling among purposeful sampling methods. As a criterion, the criterion of being or having been working in the field of industry 4.0 was determined. Findings – It has been seen that employees in the business industry process have established an information management system which they call “intelligent data management”. Within the scope of this information management system, the performances of the operators, capacity information, machine malfunctions, machine temperature and vibration information, machine usability status, information of which product is located etc. uncovered. At the same time, it is easy to determine which job is given to which employee by classifying the jobs taken by the enterprise according to the employees' abilities. Discussion – Changes in the Industry 4.0 process lead businesses to a production model based on data and knowledge. The basis of this model is an information management system, including employees. The auxiliary elements of this model are the technologies used in the industry 4.0 process. The difference of the study from other studies is that it demonstrates how the industry 4.0 process applications in the garment industry are performed in a real production environment.

Economic Development and Employment Creation in India

Employment has featured as an important item in the development agenda in India. Approaches to the subject have, however, varied in different periods during the last over 50 years. In the initial years of development planning, unemployment was not expected to emerge as a major problem. Yet care was taken to see that employment of a reasonable magnitude is generated in the development process to productively employ the growing labour force. A reasonably high rate of economic growth combined with an emphasis on labour intensive sectors like the small scale industry was envisaged to achieve this goal.

Trade, Productivity and Employment Nexus: An Examination in Post-Reforms India

In the backdrop of India’s jobless economic growth since the macroeconomic reforms of the 1990’s, this study goes into the inter-relations among growth of productivity, employment and trade. Most of the studies on productivity in Indian manufacturing indicate a surge in the post reforms period though the individual manufacturing groups achieve varying growth. In the recent period, TFP growth in the sector is attributed to technology-based intermediate imports. Changing patterns of trade, especially export composition, have contributed to low employment generation. Growth in productivity and lack of growth in employment are thus explained by changing composition of trade. This paper starts by defining alternative measures of labor productivity growth, namely ‘industry’ labor productivity and ‘system’ labor productivity drawing on World Input-Output Database (WIOD). KLEMS database for India is also used for employment data. The time period for the study is from 1995 to 2014. Trend growth rates are estimated for alternative productivity measures, employment and output. The growth estimates show rapid productivity growth while the rates vary according to the labor intensity in production. It is found that productivity growth, particularly in labor intensive sectors, has been slow. India’s share in world trade has been low and rising slowly. Additionally, the share in world trade of leather and textiles is very small. The composition of trade in India is biased towards the manufacturing sector as a whole while the labor-intensive sectors are neglected. Another emerging pattern of India’s trade is escalating import of intermediate inputs. To establish the nexus between trade and productivity growth, a vertical specialization index has been estimated by using Hummel’s formulation. The estimated result from panel regression with fixed effects establishes positive nexus between vertical specialization and productivity growth. It is argued that India needs to circumvent jobless growth by a balanced approach to job creation and productivity growth. A conscious policy of vertical specialization in products that draw on the country’s vast reserve of un-skilled and semiskilled labor can go a long way in this direction.

Fashion designer selection with the method of GRA-based intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria decision making

Personnel selection is a decision making problem based on the determination of the most suitable individual in line with the determined criteria, as known. Particularly in the labor-intensive sectors, such as apparel, the choice of the right personnel is a crucial problem and plays a key role in continuing the life cycle of companies successfully. In this study, the fashion designer selection process is examined for the design departments which are one of the most important organs for the apparel companies. For this purpose, the most suitable designer was chosen for an apparel company operating in Izmir province. In order to fulfill the aim, criteria weights which play an active role in designer selection are obtained through AHP method, and intuitive fuzzy logic sets are utilized to enable the evaluations of the candidates by the experts according to the criteria. In the light of these data, the final choice was conducted with the method of grey relational analysis.

SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE EFFECTS OF EDUCATION, DEMOGRAPHY AND ACCESS IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR STRUCTURE AND EFFICIENCY

The correlation between Education and Development has been widely investigated under the point of view of Economics, referring to the labour-intensive sectors and effects on their efficiency, as well as in the Social Sciences point of view, by focusing on the characteristics of the rural population, structure and cohesion, gender issues and the output it has on the development of agriculture in a given area. Referring to access policies into Agri-environmental schemes we will discuss the adoption of new technologies for sustainable rural development, environmental enhancement of the farm and the caution laissez-faire attitude to environmental protection. The data set selected for elaboration on this article are produced by the ISTAT institute on tome series from 2010 to 2015. Attention in this paper was focused on whether education level, age and gender has influenced social policies and the decision-making of producer policies. The results of this research are to investigate and affect factors on agricultural development by proposing a specific framework of analysis and interpretation including correlations existing between age, education and farmer contractors, demographic density changes and the empirical approaches, adopted by rural sociologist.

A Study on the Trade Patterns of Korea, China and Japan in the ASEAN Market

Purpose - The main purpose of the study was to analyze the trade patterns and comparative advantage of products in the ASEAN market as a result of the Korea-China-Japan FTA. Design/methodology/approach - In order to achieve the research objective, UNCTAD statistics were used and the current comparative advantage index and the current symmetric comparative advantage index were used to classify them into five factors that is the (basic, natural resource intensive, unskilled labor intensive, technical and human capital intensive sectors), according to factor intensity. The Markov Transition Probability Matrix was adopted in the analysis. Findings - Despite the increase in total exports to Korea, its competitiveness in the ASEAN market has gradually declined. China was the most competitive in all categories, and Japan remained competitive in all but the basic products. In China’s technology-intensive and human capital intensive areas, we found that Japan could not overtake China. Research implications or Originality - Compared to China and Japan, the competitiveness of products and product groups is weak in the ASEAN market, and it is expected that it will be hard to exceed the competitive performance China and Japan for a long time. Therefore, if we increase the competitiveness of products in the ASEAN market and more closely grasp the dependency structure of products among Korea, China and Japan, we can suggest a systematic export direction in the ASEAN market.

Long-term impact of trade liberalization on human capital formation

While a growing line of research has assessed the effect of trade liberalization on human capital formation, most of these studies focus on its short-term effect on individual’s school attendance. Much less is known about its long-run effect, as well as the impact on other aspects of human capital formation such as labor market and noncognitive outcomes. This paper studies the impact of trade liberalization on individuals’ long-term human capital accumulation, including school attendance, cognitive abilities, labor market performance, and noncognitive outcomes. By constructing prefecture-year-level tariff barriers, our identification strategy exploits variations in different cohorts’ exposure to a trade shock at age 16 for individuals within the same prefecture. Empirical results suggest that trade liberalization leads to decreased completed years of schooling, cognitive abilities, wage, and noncognitive outcomes. We provide suggestive evidence that this observed pattern is explained by the expansion of job opportunities in relatively low-skilled and labor-intensive sectors.

Supply-side carbon accounting and mitigation analysis for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in China

Cities play an important role in controlling climate change. Previous ‘city-scale studies’ have investigated consumption-based emission accounting for demand-side mitigation analysis. However, to date very few studies have presented income-based emissions accounting for supply-side mitigation strategies at the level of an urban agglomeration. To fill this gap, this research begins by accounting for the income-based carbon footprint of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration. The 14 cities that make up the BTH region were grouped into 4 types in order to analyse the emission patterns of each and to identify both labour-intensive and carbon-efficient sectors. The results from this analysis are presented in a number of heatmaps, which show emission patterns, labour-capital ratios and carbon efficiencies. The industry relocation among the 14 cities is then discussed with regards to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development Strategy. The results indicate that the service sector of Beijing, several mining sectors of resource-oriented cities and the electricity production for all of the cities are the most carbon-intensive sectors from an income-based perspective; the labour-intensive sectors are typically carbon-efficient, and the combination of supply-side carbon emissions, carbon efficiency and labour-to-capital ratio helps identify the key sectors for providing policy-makers the direction of industrial adjustment and relocation.

THE CURRENT SITUATION AND FACTORS INFLUENCING LABOR DISPUTES AT KOREAN FDI IN VIETNAM

It is stated that the year 2017 marks 25 years of Vietnam and South Korea’s diplomatic relations. During this period, Korean FDI has shifted from labor intensive sectors to capital intensive sectors and bilateral trade jumped from US$0.5 billion in 1992 to US$45 billion in 2016, while in terms of investments, South Korea has emerged as the largest foreign investor in Vietnam. In spite of the growth in trade and investment, 4 in 10 strikes that occurred in Vietnam between 2009 and 2014 were staged by workers at Korean-owned companies. Although there is an increase in the number of strikes occuring at Chinese or Taiwanese enterprises in recent years, the occurences of strikes at Korean firms still take the higher portion (31.13% in 2016 and 29.04% in 2017 by Vietnam General Confederation of Labour - VGCL) of the total labor disputes in Vietnam (VGCL, 2017). From the rationale of the situation, this research reviewed the conditions of labor relations, particularly labor disputes (strikes)1 , at the Korean FDI in Vietnam, including the current situation and changes through examining the statistics data, results of previous studies, explores and evaluates through the interview which factors were influenced to the labor disputes, and any other potential factors not yet been influenced to the labor disputes at Korean FDI in Vietnam. The findings of this research are sourced from the literatures and interviewees of local employees therefore, the results have not reflected all aspects of labor issues. It is suggested that the researcher will conduct in-depth empirical research on the relationship between the influening factors and labor disputes at Korean FDI in Vietnam.

The tourism gender gap and its potential impact on the development of the emerging countries

Tourism offers both incredible opportunities and huge challenges for gender equality. During the last decades, tourism grew almost steadily, and, since it is a labour intensive sector, even job creation increased, but not equally for men and women, as it happened in every industry. Tourism sector is actually recognized as an important contributor to help creating new job opportunities to women. Indeed, globally, in the tourism industry 46% of the workforce are women, but they suffer from both horizontal and vertical gender segregation of the labour market. In the emerging countries, the situation is even worse. Our paper focuses on bringing out the current condition of women in the tourism sector, particularly in the emerging countries and it presents, with a case study located in India, what happens to women and their communities when the role of women in tourism is supported. In India, indeed, also thanks to organizations such as the Mahila Mandals, women have been supported in their entrance in the job market in the tourism sector and this led to an improvement in their income generation capacity, in their self-esteem and in their bargaining power within the family.

Labour Productivity and Work Study in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Labour productivity is of critical importance to the profitability, timely completion and performance of most construction projects since its labour intensive sector. Labours play very critical role in MGNREGA hence their productivity directly affects the progress of work carried. Productivity is generally defined as the ratio of output to input, output is measured in terms of production level or the quantity of work completed whereas input is usually measured in units of time ( labour hours or labour day),equipment’s, materials etc. Actual productivity is the productivity achieved in the field, whereas the level achievable under most ideal conditions, is optimal productivity. Work study is the process of studying the particular work or task in a systematic and organized way and is used for finding the correct method of doing the work, determining standard times. MGNREGA Act (2005) was aimed to curb the migration of labours towards city by providing them 100 days of guaranteed employment in nearby area of 5km range, security in their income and trying to upgrade their standard of living. Works done in MGNREGA scheme are plantations, houses for people BPL, soak pit, trenching, wells, farm ponds and cowshed. The objective of the study is to find the factors affecting labour productivity, conduct work study of the activities carried out in MGNREGA and to find whether MGNREGA has been successful in achieving its goals.

Neostructuralism and Its Class Character in the Political Economy of Bolivia Under Evo Morales

ABSTRACTAs the progressive cycle in Latin America wanes, scholars are attempting to unpick the contradictions that underpinned left-wing regimes. This article seeks to trace the political economy of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) from its neostructural and neoextractivist roots in the 2006 National Development Plan (NDP) through the economic strategy actually implemented by the MAS during its time in government. By examining macroeconomic indicators, the structure of the economy, industrialisation efforts and infrastructural projects this article advances a two-pronged argument. On the one hand, economic policy, as well as industrialisation and infrastructure projects, have focused on maximising economic surplus in the extractive sectors over cultivating the sectors that employ the majority of Bolivians. It has then redistributed part of the rents captured by the state into these labour-intensive sectors. This has consolidated Bolivia's insertion into the global market as a primary commodity producer. On the other hand, the neostructuralist tenets of the NDP have meant that the class character of these policies has been ignored by the government. As the commodities bonanza came to a close in 2013 the government increasingly sided with capital over labour in social struggles over economic development.

Heterogeneity and asymmetric effects in energy resources allocation of the manufacturing sectors in China

Using the trans-log cost function and elasticity model, this paper pioneered the analysis of the elasticity and characteristics of the substitution between energy consumption and capital in China's manufacturing industry between 1995 and 2014. Firstly, the research revealed significant differences in the magnitude and direction of the substitution between coal, electricity, petroleum, and capital, thus demonstrating heterogeneity in the substitution. Secondly, the analysis, based on the Morishima Elasticity of Substitution (MES) model showed that: 1) depending on what triggers changes in factor prices, the manufacturing sector shows a reverse asymmetry whereby capital substituted energy and energy complemented capital 2) a significant asymmetry exists in the direction and magnitude of substitution in capital- and labor-intensive sectors. This asymmetric effect indicates that China can attain overall energy conservation and apply energy-saving technologies in the manufacturing industry by implementing the substitution of capital for energy. However, the differences with regards to the forms of energy consumption among sectors, as well as the heterogeneity and asymmetry in capital–energy substitution should be considered in research on energy policies for the manufacturing industry. This should also involve the integration of energy sources to ensure that such policies are targeted and effective.

Some Brief Reflections on Digital Technologies and Economic Development

AbstractAmong the many disruptions caused by artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies (including automation, cyberwarfare, surveillance, loss of privacy, fake news, infrastructure vulnerability), the effects on development pathways are likely to be significant and complex. AI will enable low-income countries to leapfrog in several sectors, including e-governance, e-finance, e-health, and e-education. Yet AI will also lead to automation, reducing the demand for labor, especially unskilled labor. Labor-intensive sectors such as apparel will provide fewer jobs, and lower export earnings. Development strategies will need to adjust accordingly.

Economic Growth and Unemployment Rate for the Economy of Botswana: An Empirical Study

Relationship between economic growth and unemployment rate known as the Okun’s law plays an important role in policy analysis as it allows to what extent the growth rate targets affect unemployment in an economy. The validity of Okun`s law in Botswana is examined in the present study utilising annual data during the period 1991 to 2014. The gap version and first difference version of Okun`s law has been examined employing methodology of the ordinary least squares, vector error correction model and the Granger causality test. The results do not support the negative relationship between the aforementioned macroeconomic variables thus suggesting that Okun`s law does not hold for Botswana. Large share of mining sector in the gross domestic product is the main reason for this observation. Our study therefore, recommends that the government should intensify its diversification efforts in labour intensive sectors of the economy such as the agricultural and tourism sector.

The vibration health risk assessment on operators of different capacity dumpers at opencast mine in India

In a labour intensive sector, some of the factors in the work environment which impact the health of vehicle operators include: Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) and Hand-Arm Vibration (HAV). The vibrations transferred from the dumpers are harmful to the operators; hence a study was carried out to measure the vibration from dumpers and its effect on operators in Indian opencast mines. Dumper is a vehicle designed to transport bulk material and used extensively in the construction and mining industries. For the measurement, dumpers with the different capacities were selected from the opencast mines. Vibration measurements were carried out in accordance with ISO 5349-1 for the measurement of HAV and ISO 2631-1 for the measurement of WBV. The obtained WBV exposure result shows that the problem of musculoskeletal disorder was significantly higher with respect to VDV(8) (69 %) in the exposed population as compared to A(8) r.m.s. acceleration (46 %). Moreover different capacity dumper vehicle hand transmitted vibration through steering wheel, A(8) r.m.s. acceleration observed in the range of 1.91 m/s2-4.28 m/s2. As per EU DIRECTIVE 2002/44/EC, specified Exposure Action Value (EAV) 71 % measured A(8) value falls within EAV limit. However, despite of the result operator experience problem of hand arm vibration syndrome. Hence there is a need of ergonometric deign enhancement on dumpers vehicle’s seat and steering wheel.

Exploring the musculoskeletal problems and associated risk-factors among brick kiln workers

Purpose Prolonged working in repetitive and awkward postures can result in musculoskeletal disorders among workers involved in labour-intensive jobs like those of brick kiln workers. Unlike other labour-intensive sectors, workers in this particular sector have a lack of awareness about musculoskeletal problems. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore musculoskeletal issues and associated risk-factors among brick kiln workers. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted among 217 male and 111 female workers aged between 17 and 53 years. They were employed in traditional brick kiln units situated in Rajasthan, India. Postures were analysed by Rapid Upper Limb Assessment and Rapid Entire Body Assessment methods. Binary logistic regression was used to find the association between musculoskeletal problems and risk-factors. Findings For the mould evacuating task, wrist (76.2 per cent) and lower back (56 per cent) issues were the most frequently reported musculoskeletal problems, while in spading task, lower back (62.4 per cent) and shoulder (57.7 per cent) problems were prominent. Musculoskeletal symptoms in one or more body regions were associated with personal and work-related factors including the type of task and experience. Research limitations/implications Kiln workers are exposed to high musculoskeletal and postural risks, particularly in spading and mould filling tasks. To reduce these risks, ergonomic interventions are needed. Originality/value It is recognised that the musculoskeletal health of brick kiln workers is a cause for concern. The present study provides the evidence of the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms experienced by brick kiln workers and the association of symptoms with various risk-factors, which has not been addressed in previous studies.

Post-crisis India’s Merchandise Export Growth: What Has Changed?

This article comprehensively examines the growth and pattern of India’s merchandise exports during and following the financial crisis period (2007–08 to 2016–17) using Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics and United Nations Commodity Trade/World Integrated Trade Solution trade data. The entire analysis is based on leading trade indices and indicators and the results confirm that significant change in India’s trading structure is associated with the fast growth of foreign trade. The composition of exports has undergone changes overtime, bearing a strong influence of factor endowments and technology in favour of both human capital intensive and technology intensive sectors. The magnitude of product diversification shows that India’s export basket is poorly diversified but more diversified than BRICS countries except China. India’s export destinations showed a major shift from the developed countries market to the emerging markets in Asia and Africa. However, India holds more increased trade intensity with USA and Hong Kong. Dynamism in labour-intensive manufacturing sector is vital to promote India’s exports of agricultural value-added products and enable more competitive at the world. Also, the development of new markets should be viewed as part of a wider effort to enlarge the India’s foreign trade. JEL Code: F10, F14, F19