Low-educated Workers Research Articles

Unemployment and Development

This paper draws on household survey data from countries of all income levels to measure how average unemployment rates vary with income per capita. We document that unemployment is increasing with GDP per capita. Furthermore, we show that this fact is accounted for almost entirely by low-educated workers, whose unemployment rates are strongly increasing in GDP per capita, rather than by high-educated workers, whose unemployment rates are not correlated with income. To interpret these facts, we build a model with workers of heterogeneous ability and two sectors: a traditional sector, in which self-employed workers produce output without reward for ability; and a modern sector, in which firms hire in frictional labor markets, and output increases with ability. Countries differ exogenously in the productivity level of the modern sector. The model predicts that as productivity rises, the traditional sector shrinks, as progressively less-able workers enter the modern sector, leading to a rise in overall unemployment and in the ratio of low-educated to high-educated unemployment rates. Quantitatively, the model accounts for around one third of the cross-country patterns we document.

Political Change and Informality: Evidence from the Arab Spring

This paper examines informality during the political and economic turmoil that accompanied the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt. The paper focuses on unprotected employment and the extent to which it changed by educational level right after the January Uprising of 2011. We find that over time and particularly after the revolution, informal employment has increased for both high- and low-educated workers however, through different paths: high educated were more likely to be stuck in informality, whilst low-educated formal workers were more likely to lose their contracts. The results suggest a high level of rigidity in the Egyptian labor market even in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Investing in skills to overcome the crisis? Low-skilled workers in Italy: European strategies, policies and structural weaknesses

A skilled workforce is a prerequisite for productivity and a stepping stone for innovation. This is the reason why education and investment in skills have been made the foundations of Europe 2020, Europe’s strategy to overcome the economic crisis and boost growth. The propensity for developing skills is consistently present in European countries and concerns all educational levels. However, differences between countries are often considerable, in particular with regard to skills and educational attainment. There are countries, such as Italy, which have not been successful thus far at decreasing the number of low-skilled workers. This article aims to describe the situation of low-educated and low-skilled workers in Italy and the impact of the economic crisis on this particularly vulnerable group. The work is based on official data issued by national and international institutions, as well as on results from a narrative analysis of 15 biographical interviews with low-skilled adults in Italy conducted within a Cedefop project. Drawing on both types of sources, the article will offer a perspective on the relationship between structural constraints in regard to access to and participation in lifelong learning in Italy, specifically for low-skilled workers, and individual strategies adopted to cope with these constraints.

Unemployment and labour market mismatch in the European Union Countries

The purpose of this paper is to investigate some of the main drivers of high unemployment rates in the European Union countries starting from two sources highlighted in the economic literature: the shortfall of the aggregate demand and the increasing labour market mismatches. [The authors'] analysis is based on a panel database and focuses on two objectives: to measure the long and short-term impact of [gross domestic product] GDP growth on unemployment over recent years for different categories of labour market participants (young, older and low educated workers) and to evaluate the relationship between mismatches related to skills (educational and occupational) and unemployment. One of the main conclusions is that unemployment rates of young and low educated workers are more responsive to economic growth variations both in the long and short run, while unemployment rates of older workers show a greater capacity of adjustment. In addition, occupational mismatches seem to have a significant long-term impact on the changes in unemployment of all categories of unemployed, whereas the short run effect is rather mixed, varying across countries. One explanation is the fact that during crisis, economy's structure tends to change more rapidly than labour market and educational system can adapt.

An Equilibrium Search Model with Endogenous Growth Rate of Human Capital

This article shows how endogenous human capital affects labor market equilibrium when jobs provided by firms can be either unskilled or skilled and workers differ in their education level which can be either low-educated or high-educated. The market equilibrium is characterized by the unemployment rate and the human capital distributions when the growth rate of the human capital is an endogenous variable. The structure proportion of jobs affects the equilibrium which shows there is a threshold that can distinguish whether the equilibrium is separating or cross-skill. In addition, the cross-skill equilibrium solution implies the high-educated workers are more likely to own higher pay rates than the low-educated workers with same tenure. It also yields a new insight on the effect of the structure proportion of workers on the profits, which implies the profits of firms decrease with the increasing number of the low-educated workers. Moreover, the profit of firms offering the skilled jobs is greater than those offering the unskilled jobs until there is only very few high-educated workers.

Equilibrium search model with endogenous growth rate of human capital

This article studies an equilibrium search problem when jobs provided by firms can be either unskilled or skilled and when workers differing in their education level can be either low-educated or high-educated. The structure proportion of jobs affects the equilibrium which indicates a threshold that can distinguish whether the equilibrium is separating or cross-skill. In addition, the cross-skill equilibrium solution implies the high-educated workers are more likely to obtain higher pay rates than the low-educated workers with same tenure. Moreover, the profits of the firms decrease as the number of the low-educated workers increases. The most interesting conclusion is that the growth rate of the human capital is an endogenous variable which is different from previous work.

Informal unemployment and education

Abstract This paper develops a four-sector equilibrium search and matching model with informal sector employment opportunities and educational choice. We show that underground activities reduce educational attainments if informal employment opportunities mainly are available for low-educated workers. A more zealous enforcement policy will in this case improve educational incentives as it reduces the attractiveness of remaining a low-educated worker. However, unemployment also increases. Characterizing the optimal enforcement policies, we find that relatively more audits should be targeted towards the sector employing low-educated workers; elsewise, a too low stock of educated workers is materialized.

Health shocks, disability and work

This paper focuses on the relation between health shocks and the onset of a disability and employment outcomes. We estimate an event-history model using data from the British National Child Development Study (NCDS), where accidents causing a unscheduled hospitalization are the measure for unanticipated health shocks. Our results show that experiencing such a health shock substantially increases the likelihood of the onset of a disability, while it does not have direct effects on employment at later ages. This finding is used to simulate the causal effects of the onset of a disability on later employment outcomes. These simulations show that about two-third of the association between disability and employment can be explained by the causal effect of the onset of a disability on employment. The remaining one-third is selection. For men and lower-educated workers the association is mainly explained by the causal effect, while for women selection is more important.

Employment protection and wage inequality within education groups in Europe

In this paper we employ EU-Silc microdata for 19 EU member countries in 2007 and 2012 to provide evidence on hourly wage disparities within high-, medium- and low-educated workers. Using quantile regression approaches, we look at individual and institutional determinants of earnings inequality within each cohort and across the wage distribution. Then, by focusing on the employment status (temporary/permanent) of workers, we find that remarkable differences exist in the role played by employment protection of temporary and regular jobs in shaping wage levels, depending on the group of countries, education groups and year considered, with important and group-specific policy implications.

Health insurance reform and part-time work: Evidence from Massachusetts

A concern with requiring employers to provide health insurance to full-time employees is that employers may increase their use of part-time workers to circumvent the mandate. In this paper, we study the effect of the employer mandate in the Massachusetts health insurance reform on part-time work using a difference-in-differences strategy that compares changes in part-time work in Massachusetts after the reform to changes in various control groups. We find strong evidence that the Massachusetts employer mandate increased part-time employment among low-educated workers and some evidence that it increased part-time employment among younger workers. Our estimate of a 1.7 percentage point increase in part-time employment among workers without a college degree suggests that lower-skilled workers may be vulnerable to having their hours cut so that employers do not have to offer them health insurance.

Taxi drivers with a PhD: trickle down or crowding-out for lower educated workers in Dutch cities?

Attracting higher educated workers is often seen as a means to stimulate employment in cities in general, leading to lower unemployment for the lower educated, the ‘trickle-down’ effect. However, lower educated workers may also experience crowding-out effects if these higher educated inhabitants accept jobs below their educational level. Based on an empirical analysis of a cross-section of Dutch cities, we find that these crowding-out effects indeed seem to occur. This implies that a trickle-down strategy cannot be seen as a panacea by urban policymakers for the problem of high unemployment amongst lower educated workers.

Sikap Mengutamakan Keselamatan Kerja: Tinjauan Faktor Pelatihan Dan Ukuran Pekerja Industri

The study seeks to find out whether safety-training has the same effect in small-scale, middle-scale and large-scale industries. The population is low level education workers in East Java industries. The research found that safety-training affects significantly in increasing workers attitude only in large scale industries. Workers in small and middle industries got safety knowledge from safety-training but their safety attitudes do not increase because they found threat to apply their knowledge in their industries.

Employment and taxes in Latin America: An empirical study of the effects of payroll, corporate income and value-added taxes on labor outcomes

This paper empirically explores the effects of payroll taxes, value-added taxes and corporate income taxes on a variety of labor market outcomes such as participation, employment, informality, and wages. The results are based on nationallevel data of labor variables for 15 Latin American countries, and indicate that the effects of each tax are markedly different and may depend on several aspects of labor and tax institutions. Payroll taxes reduce employment and increase labor costs when their benefits are not valued by workers, but otherwise may increase labor participation and not raise labor costs. Value-added taxes increase informality and reduce skilled labor demand. In contrast, corporate income taxes may help reduce informality, especially among low education workers, but when tax enforcement capabilities are strong they may reduce labor participation and employment of medium- and high-education workers.

Are positive learning experiences levers for lifelong learning among low educated workers?

Purpose – Based on the theory of planned behaviour and social learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of training participation and learning experience on the beliefs of low-educated employees about their self-efficacy for learning. Design/methodology/approach – Low-educated workers of three different organizations (n=359) filled out a questionnaire at three different points in time, with a half-yearly interval. Regression analyses were used to establish the effects of training participation and learning experience on learning self-efficacy. Findings – Training participation alone did not affect low-educated workers’ learning self-efficacy, but a positive learning experience did contribute to workers’ post-training learning self-efficacy. These results support the relevance of positive learning experiences. Research limitations/implications – Follow-up studies could focus on the effects of learning self-efficacy for subsequent learning activities, establish which aspects of training contribute to a positive learning experience, and include contextual characteristics that may predict learning self-efficacy. Practical implications – To stimulate learning among lower educated workers, it is necessary that they have confidence in their ability to successfully complete their training. Trainers and training developers working for this specific target group of lower educated workers should aim to provide training that is a positive experience, besides being a learning exercise. Originality/value – The study is the first to analyse the longitudinal effects of training participation and learning experience on post-training learning self-efficacy among low-educated workers.

Arbeid-en-zorgbeleid in de participatiesamenleving

Work and care policy in the ‘big’ society: an expansion of capabilities? Work and care policy in the ‘big’ society: an expansion of capabilities? In this article, we assess the extent to which national-level work-care policies in the Netherlands enable various groups in society (men and women, lower and higher educated and employees versus self-employed) to reconcile work and care. We answer this question by conducting a policy analysis using Sen’s (1992) capability approach. Applying this perspective, we evaluate the availability, accessibility and design of work-care policies in the Netherlands. In addition, we consider the importance of collective agreements and the organizational context. Our assessment shows that work-care policies and collective agreements offer greater capabilities to certain groups to reconcile work and care than to others. Childcare policy offers decreased accessibility for the self-employed and flexible work arrangements enable women more than men to take on care tasks and work part-time. In addition, higher educated workers appear to have greater access to flexible arrangements than lower educated workers, but often use this flexibility to work more rather than reconcile work with care. Moreover, current care leave policies enforce rather than challenge existing socio-cultural norms, and alternatives to the one-and-a-half earner model remain limited.

PERSPECTIVAS DA ECONOMIA SOLIDÁRIA EM MICRORREGIÕES DO OESTE CATARINENSE

Como campo de trabalho, a Economia Solidária é alternativa diferenciada para construir possibilidades de geração de renda e inclusão sócio-produtiva. Projetam-se os empreendimentos econômicos solidários como capazes de gerar desenvolvimento com maior valorização do ser humano e do meio ambiente. Este artigo traz uma discussão sobre Economia Solidária no oeste catarinense, com o objetivo de compreender as perspectivas das suas ações, considerando as características de gestão, instituições apoiadoras e desafios políticos operacionais. Apoia-se no método misto de pesquisa, uma vez que permite recortar e mesclar dados de caráter quantitativo e qualitativo, proporcionando maior legitimidade e aperfeiçoamento na compreensão das categorias e variáveis que se expressam em torno do objeto estudado. Utilizou-se da pesquisa de campo na abrangência das microrregiões da Associação dos Municípios do Extremo Oeste de Santa Catarina-Ameosc e Associação dos Municípios do Oeste de Santa Catarina-Amosc. Na Ameosc foram pesquisados Empreendimentos Econômicos Solidários-EES e instituições apoiadoras de suas ações e na Amosc, apenas essas instituições. Para a pesquisa de campo, com os sujeitos selecionados (representantes dos empreendimentos e lideranças), utilizou-se da aplicação de formulário e realização de entrevistas. A partir dos dados coletados sob a formalização jurídica, destaca-se a forma de associação, como a mais usual entre os empreendimentos nas duas microrregiões. Entre as atividades produtivas dos empreendimentos, destaca-se a produção de alimentos e de artesanatos. O modo autogestionário adotado nos empreendimentos pesquisados tem propiciado, em especial, a integração entre sócios e a geração complementar de renda. Não obstante, há dificuldades a serem superadas: baixa escolaridade dos trabalhadores; diversificação e diferenciação dos produtos; e, pouco envolvimento dos associados na gestão do empreendimento. Além disso, a dinâmica de gestão dos EES também possui dificuldades político-operacionais a serem superadas: limitada abrangência comercial e participação em redes; formalização jurídica adequada para ampliar possibilidades comerciais e de investimentos. As instituições de apoio aos empreendimentos solidários são diversas no âmbito da esfera governamental e não governamental, proporcionando acessos à infraestrutura e orientações técnico-gerenciais e de qualificação profissional e política. Os EES, como unidades de trabalho sócio-produtivo, são capazes de gerar processos de participação, auto-gestão e de desenvolvimento regional mais igualitário e sustentável.

The phenomenon of new Spanish emigration: its historical retrospect and present post-crisis reality

The article outlines new trends in the international flows of highly-skilled human resources from Spain because of deep economic crisis started in 2008 with its dramatic social consequences. High levels of youth unemployment as a result of downturn of national labor market provoked emigration of young Spaniards. The paper aims to compare the main socio-economic characteristics of recent migration and massive movements of the 1960-1970s when thousands of domestic Spaniards went abroad, to neighboring European countries to find a job and better life conditions. That historical wave of migration had rotary cycles and was composed mainly by low educated and unskilled workers. In comparison, among recent Spanish-born emigrants predominates educated and highly-qualified youth. However the Europe is the main end of attraction, some Latin American countries are increasing their importance due to the government politics with the purpose of recruiting Spanish scientists and highly qualified professionals.

Educational differences in trajectories of self-rated health before, during, and after entering or leaving paid employment in the European workforce.

This study aimed to investigate (i) the influence of entering or leaving paid employment on self-rated health trajectories before, during, and after this transition and (ii) educational differences in these health trajectories. In this prospective study, we used yearly measurements of self-rated health from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) to establish how health is affected by employment transitions in or out of the workforce due to early retirement, unemployment or economic inactivity. Trajectories of self-rated health were analyzed among 136 556 persons with low, intermediate, or high educational level by repeated-measures logistic regression with generalized estimating equations. Among low-educated workers, ill-health partly prompted their voluntary labor force exit through early retirement and becoming economically inactive, but thereafter these exit routes seemed to prevent further deterioration of their health. In contrast, among higher educated workers, early retirement had an adverse effect on their self-rated health. Becoming unemployed had adverse effects on self-rated health among all educational levels. Entering paid employment was predetermined by self-rated health improvement in the preceding years among intermediate and high educated workers, whereas, among low-educated workers, self-rated health improved in the year of entering paid employed and continued to improve in the following years. Prolonging working life may have both adverse and beneficial effects on self-rated health. Health inequalities may increase when every person, independent of educational level, must perform paid employment until the same age before being able to retire.

Human Capital Externalities: Effects for Low-Educated Workers and Low-Skilled Jobs

Broersma L., Edzes A. J. E. and van Dijk J. Human capital externalities: effects for low-educated workers and low-skilled jobs, Regional Studies. Investments in human capital are essential themes in many policy programmes. Besides the direct private returns of education, there is evidence of positive human capital externalities at the level of regions and firms. The results in this paper show that both production and consumption externalities have positive effects on wages. Production externalities are transmitted at the level of firms and not at the regional level. For workers in low-skilled jobs, consumption externalities dominate production externalities. Workers on low-skilled jobs earn higher wages when working in cooperation with workers in high-skilled jobs, while for low-educated workers such cooperation with high-educated workers is negative.

The Potential Effects of Federal Health Insurance Reforms on Employment Arrangements and Compensation

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) presents an opportunity to significantly improve compensation for American workers. A potential concern, though, is that employers will circumvent the employer mandate by increasing their use of workers in staffing arrangements that are not covered by the mandate: workers averaging less than 30 hours per week, working on a temporary basis, or working in organizations with fewer than 50 full-time employees. In this paper, we shed light on the likely effects that the ACA will have on employment arrangements. We first examine how part-time employment in Massachusetts changed after its health insurance reform, which is similar to the ACA in many ways. We find, contrary to prior research, that the Massachusetts reform resulted in modest increases in part-time employment among low-educated workers. We then identify the characteristics of employers and employees most affected by the ACA’s employer mandate. For the period 2010 to 2012, we estimate that workers who were not offered health insurance at their workplaces but whose employers would be required to offer health insurance under the ACA made up about 5 percent of the workforce and that reducing average weekly hours worked may be relatively straightforward for employers in industries with the largest concentrations of these workers (e.g., retail trade and accommodation and food services). We also point to recent industry patterns of involuntary part-time employment and temporary help use that are consistent with these potential effects of the employer mandate.