Low Labor Productivity Research Articles

An opinion survey of Delay in Road Construction in City Area and its effects

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the causes and effects of delays in road construction across various areas in Nepal. Its objective is to identify the key factors contributing to these delays and examine how they affect different stakeholders, including the general public, businesses, and the government.Method: This research used a mixed-method approach, combining a questionnaire survey with Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) to gather comprehensive data on road construction delays. Key stakeholders, particularly those impacted by road construction projects, were surveyed to collect their views on the causes of delays and the resulting consequences.Results: There is identified several major factors causing delays in road construction projects in Nepal including frequent government changes, alterations in project design, low labor productivity, inadequate planning, political interference and protection, and a shortage of resources. Conclusion: The study concludes that delays in road construction projects not only increase costs but also diminish public trust, growing public dissatisfaction. Stakeholders expressed frustration with the slow pace of construction, emphasizing its adverse effects on businesses, public health, and road safety.

ISSUES OF PROVIDING GUARANTEES AND SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR EAEU LABOUR MIGRANTS

Background: Today, the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter the EAEU) has formed its own labour market; however, in the current international environment, issues related to ensuring the health protection of migrants and their access to employment persist. Despite ongoing efforts within the EAEU to develop and deepen Eurasian integration and improve the regulatory framework, there is a need in the age of digitalisation to develop better access for workers to social protection and medical support systems. The relevance of this scientific article lies in the presence of problematic issues related to the fact that many migrants are not registered and lack the documentation to protect them legally and financially; this situation contributes to the development of informal employment and low labour productivity. Although the EAEU countries have established working and socio- economic conditions, the issue of ensuring health protection, access to work, and social protection for labour migrants remains unsolved. Methods: This article employs various methods of scientific cognition, including historical and legal analysis, comparative legal study, induction and deduction, as well as analysis and synthesis. It also applies the acts and regulations of the ILO. What is the role of protecting the socio-economic and labour rights of migrant workers as the main task of receiving states? In law enforcement practice, to what extent do the provisions of international agreements on the organised hiring of workers between receiving countries and countries of origin of migrants ensure the adaptation of migrants to the legal regime of the host country, the participation of migrants in the functioning of civil society institutions, and the monitoring of migration processes? How does national regulation of labour migration in integration associations of states rationally organise their actions on the principles of national treatment for migrant workers? Labour migration strengthens integration unions, creating strong social ties and developing civil society institutions within the boundaries of integration associations. Since state sovereignty is inextricably linked to the protection of the interests of fellow citizens in regulating labour migration, all states participating in regional integration are called upon not only to protect the rights of migrant workers but also to provide all conditions for migrants to fulfil their obligations to civil society. The study examined the free movement and provision of labour and social guarantees for labour migrants in the EAEU and compared their situation in the EU. It also surveyed labour migrants in the EAEU by questioning workers in education, medical care, and various private sectors. This article is based on the results of this study. This article examined the challenges in providing guarantees and social protection for EAEU labour migrants. It proposed improvements to legal regulatory mechanisms and outlined recommendations for improving and expanding opportunities for free movement while better safeguarding the social and labour rights of migrants in the EAEU. The study’s primary objectives were as follows: - Examining the provisions of the ILO Convention on migrant workers. - Collecting and analysing data on labour movement across the EAEU - Analysing international EU treaties regarding the legal status of migrant workers - Interviewing migrant workers in the EAEU on issues related to their provision of rights and guarantees under the EAEU Treaty. Results and conclusions: This study highlights the need to organise safe labour migration, provide labour migrants with full access to digital services, improve the system of vocational and technical education in line with labour market demands, as well as develop and implement a unified system for ensuring the safety of workers and their families. Successful adaptation in the host country is identified as a critical factor for both labour migrants and their families. The authors recommend adding a dedicated chapter to the EAEU treaty that would comprehensively address labour and social rights, along with their guarantees.

Managerial sentiment and employment

Recent research shows that managers, much like investors, are prone to sentiment. In this paper, we study the effect of managerial sentiment on firms’ operations both theoretically and empirically. Consistent with our model’s predictions, we find that high managerial sentiment increases employment growth, especially among firms with limited investment opportunities and regardless of their cash resources. We also show that high managerial sentiment offsets the negative effect of low investor sentiment and bad governance on employment, but ultimately leads to lower labor productivity. Overall, the findings unveil a new channel through which optimistic managers affect firms’ operations.

The moderating role of servant leadership in the relationship between organizational structure and performance in fashion retailing

PurposeThis study aims to reveal how the organizational structure (vertical integration vs. franchising) of 308 stores in a Spanish fashion retail franchise chain affects their performance measured through two key performance indicators commonly used in this industry, namely, labor productivity and service quality ratings. We also appraise the moderating role played by the servant leadership of franchisees and managers of company-owned outlets to explore its influence on the relationship between organizational structure and store performance.Design/methodology/approachWe have used multivariate analyses to study the research questions, with a panel dataset of quarterly store-level data for the period January–December 2022.FindingsVertically-integrated stores record lower labor productivity than franchised ones. This impact is lower in stores run by individuals high in servant leadership than in those run by individuals low in it. Franchised outlets also record lower ratings in service quality than vertically-integrated stores, and this negative impact is weaker in stores run by individuals high in servant leadership.Originality/valueNothing has thus far been published on the moderating effect of servant leadership in the relationship between the organizational structure of different stores and their outcomes in franchise systems.

Rubber-Based Agroforestry Systems Associated with Food Crops: A Solution for Sustainable Rubber and Food Production?

Agroforestry is often seen as a sustainable land-use system for agricultural production providing ecosystem services. Intercropping with food crops leads to equal or higher productivity than monoculture and results in food production for industry and subsistence. Low rubber price and low labor productivity in smallholdings have led to a dramatic conversion of rubber plantations to more profitable crops. The literature analysis performed in this paper aimed at better understanding the ins and outs that could make rubber-based agroforestry more attractive for farmers. A comprehensive search of references was conducted in March 2023 using several international databases and search engines. A Zotero library was set up consisting of 415 scientific references. Each reference was carefully read and tagged in several categories: cropping system, country, main tree species, intercrop type, intercrop product, level of product use, discipline of the study, research topic, and intercrop species. Of the 232 journal articles, 141 studies were carried out on rubber agroforestry. Since 2011, the number of studies per year has increased. Studies on rubber-based agroforestry systems are performed in most rubber-producing countries, in particular in Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Brazil. These studies focus more or less equally on perennials (forest species and fruit trees), annual intercrops, and mixed plantations. Of the 47 annual crops associated with rubber in the literature, 20 studies dealt with rice, maize, banana, and cassava. Agronomy is the main discipline in the literature followed by socio-economy and then ecology. Only four papers are devoted to plant physiology and breeding. The Discussion Section has attempted to analyze the evolution of rubber agroforestry research, progress in the selection of food crop varieties adapted to agroforestry systems, and to draw some recommendations for rubber-based agroforestry systems associated with food crops.

Issues of the functioning of soviet industrial cooperation in the restoration of the Bryansk region (1943–1945)

This study is devoted to industrial cooperation in the Bryansk region in the context of the restoration of this region after the Nazi occupation. Based on archival materials presented by the records of cooperative industry officials of the Bryansk region directly and their capital authorities, as well as reporting data from industrial cooperation and the State Planning Committee of the RSFSR from the funds of two federal and one regional archives, an attempt is being made to restore the history of industrial cooperation in the Bryansk region, highlighting features of the functioning of this system in the economy of the USSR using the example of a specific liberated subject of the Russian Federation. The article is based on a descriptive method using technology geographic information systems in the QGIS program. The author states the presence of serious obstacles in the work of Soviet industrial cooperation associated with the low material and technical equipment of industrial cooperative artels, as well as the complexity of the planned tasks assigned to them, but at the same time concludes that there is a certain limit of trust on the part of the state in terms of attitude towards the cooperative industry, which was expressed in the release of industrial cooperation with more serious plans compared to the main competitors of industrial cooperation in the form of local industry. Despite the low labor productivity, cooperators demonstrated high survival rate due to the combination of the active use of state resources, which provided all possible assistance to artels and the trade unions that form them, and the use of their own potential, expressed in the form of the possibility of simplified organization of production and investment long-term lending of intra-cooperative origin.

Improvement of the device’s design for increasing the efficiency of geophysical research using the Earth’s natural pulsed electromagnetic field method

Long-term field studies have shown the high efficiency of the geophysical method of the earth’s natural pulsed electromagnetic field (NPEMFE). It is a modern and experimentally substantiated tool for studying geodynamic processes in the geological environment. Disadvantages of the known device are the low efficiency of recording the intensity level of the NPEMFE, low productivity and high costs of manual labor when performing complex registration. The application of the proposed improvements will make it possible to increase the efficiency of registration of the intensity level of the NPEMFE with an increase in productivity and a decrease in costs and the level of manual labor. The technical result is achieved due to the mobility of the structure and the provision of the possibility of simultaneous registration of the intensity level of the NPEMFE both in the frequency band and in its spatial position.

IPO suspensions and labor employment decisions: Evidence from China

The Chinese regulator occasionally suspends all initial public offerings (IPOs) to maintain stability in the capital markets and facilitate capital market reform. These suspensions temporarily prevent firms that have obtained IPO approval from going public. We hypothesize that this suspension-induced listing delay influences firms’ labor employment decisions. Consistent with this argument, we find that a suspension-induced listing delay is associated with an increase in labor costs, both in terms of total and average employee payments. This positive relationship is more pronounced for human capital-intensive firms and non-state-owned enterprises. We also find that there is an increase in employment and employee turnover for firms facing suspension-induced listing delays. Moreover, IPO suspensions result in lower labor productivity and firm performance. Overall, our results indicate that government policy uncertainty leads firms to incur high labor costs and reduces capital allocation efficiency.

Economic performance of exporting sectors: Evidence for manufacturing in Brazil

We investigated the resilience of exporting manufacturing sectors during the Brazilian domestic recession (2014–2016) using data from various sources at the Brazilian state-sector level. We propose a new identification strategy that gauges a sector’s exposure to the recession by examining its current position in the international demand cycle, deemed exogenous from the viewpoint of a local exporter in Brazil. Following the two-year Brazilian recession, we observe a persistent negative effect on exporting sectors that are more reliant on domestic economic activity (and thus more vulnerable to the domestic recession) than those less reliant on domestic economic activity (less exposed to the domestic recession). Sectors with lower labor productivity and higher technological intensity were less resilient during the domestic recession, as revenues declined and financing costs increased substantially. Given the critical role of exports in regional economic growth, this study contributes to the formulation of public policies by documenting the economic performance of exporting sectors during periods of economic stress.

Cooperation of small and medium in agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The process of uniting small and medium-sized businesses in the agro-industrial complex into agricultural cooperatives is very relevant for the Republic of Kazakhstan, given the small-scale nature of agricultural production and the high share of households in the total volume of agricultural production. gross agricultural output and, accordingly, low labor productivity in agriculture. The purpose of the study is to study the development of agricultural cooperation in Kazakhstan and identify problems hindering the development of the cooperative movement, and suggest directions for further development in the field of cooperation in the country. To study processes and phenomena in the field of organizational and economic relations, various methods were used, such as analysis and synthesis, the use of systematic and logical approaches to the study of trends in the development of agricultural cooperation. The essence of the efficiency of cooperative formations functioning is formulated. The world and domestic experience of agricultural cooperation development has been studied, which allowed to identify the main prerequisites for the development of small and medium-sized business in the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The article presents existing problems that impede their development, and in conclusion, the authors offer recommendations on measures of state regulation and support for the development of agricultural cooperation in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is necessary, first of all, to direct efforts to the development of production cooperation of small and medium-sized farms, which have the opportunity to organize joint production of agricultural products, use of land resources, agricultural machinery, and introduce advanced growing technologies. agricultural products in order to preserve the fertility of agricultural land and use a unified scientifically based crop rotation system. All this will ultimately increase the volume of agricultural production, animal productivity, increase crop yields and labor productivity.

Selected Prospects for the Development of the Ukraine Economy in the Context of Wartime Demographic Transformations

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has had a significant impact on the country's development dynamics. This was particularly reflected in the demographic potential: rising mortality rates, falling birth rates and the highest rates of internal and external migration since independence. Such transformations, combined with the challenges of the times, have been reflected in the economic space, both negatively and positively. This paper analyses the current demographic and economic situation, compares them with the period before the active military confrontation, and examines public attitudes and international experience in overcoming similar crises. This analysis was carried out by studying the main statistical data on the above processes. The international experience was reviewed by studying scientific publications and reports from expert organisations. The study showed that the continuation of the conflict could lead to a significant aggravation of regional disparities, the rapid development of service industries, including the digital sector and the military industry, a shift away from focussing on low value-added goods, and a crisis in sectors with low labour productivity. Although the demographic crisis will continue to deepen, it is expected to stabilise at a new level after the active phase of the war is over. The current set of prospects is generally positive but requires a proactive approach and constant review to accelerate the transformation process and strengthen the potential of the Ukrainian economy.

Analysis of the Current Situation and Problems of Technical Personnel in Material Production Enterprises

With the rapid development of high- temperature industry, our country has become the largest country in the world in the production, consumption and export of refractory products. However, the technical quality of front-line employees in refractory enterprises is generally low. Especially with the continuous upgrading of refractory production equipment, process and quality control, the problem of lack of technical and skilled personnel is becoming more and more serious. From the perspective of human resources, and in-depth investigation on the development of refractory industry and its personnel status, the current situation and problems of refractory enterprise technical personnel are analyzed. It is found that leading large enterprises are still in short supply of high-tech application-oriented technical personnel and operational personnel even though the structure of senior technical personnel is relatively reasonable, and small and medium-sized Enterprises gradually enter into a vicious circle of low wages, low technology, low labor productivity because they only focus on production, not research. In addition, vocational students working in different refractory enterprises often face a dilemma, some feeling lack of relatively complete theoretical knowledge, some wanting to improve the ability to operate and deal with faults.

Life-cycle decisions and general equilibrium in the heterogeneous-agent OLG economy

ABSTRACT This study develops a life-cycle model to predict an overlapping generations economy with heterogeneous agents. In our proposed model, ex-ante heterogeneity includes the work probability, survival rate, subjective discount rate, and intertemporal elasticity of substitution. We observe differences in financial decisions and asset accumulation among heterogeneous agents and calculate equilibrium values of aggregate economic variables, such as consumption and capital. For the numerical analyses, we classify the population into four groups based on labour productivity and gender, and investigate the life-cycle behaviours of heterogeneous agents. Retirees in the male group with low labour productivity and low remaining life expectancy have the highest propensity to consume and the highest consumption elasticity for retirement shock compared to other retirees. Workers with relatively high labour productivity have lower risk adjustment factors, indicating that they are less concerned about retirement risk than less productive workers.

Waste Analysis to Support the Implementation of Lean Construction on Building Project

In the implementation of a project, it cannot be separated from the name of obstacles or failures. Failure can be caused by waste, including material delays, work repetition, low labour productivity, implementation strategies and poor project planning. Lean Construction handles projects by minimizing waste and trying to produce the maximum value possible. This research aims to identify waste factors in building construction and then analyse the dominant factors of waste. The data was collected using a questionnaire from 23 respondents involved in projects execution and then analysed using the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method to find the dominant waste factor in building construction projects in Malang City. According to the calculation, the result shows that the most dominant factor of waste from construction projects in Malang City is waiting criteria with a value of 0,278. Furthermore, the identified results will be used to determine the appropriate strategy towards zero waste.

Integration of the agricultural sector and water use system of Kyrgyzstan in the context of global integration programs

The peculiarities of agricultural development and water use system in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asian countries are revealed. The main features of the land-saving type of development of the industry, characterized by low labor productivity, predominant production in the household sector, and small size of land are defined. The current system of water use, utilization and management of water resources was assessed. In the context of OBOR global integration programs, the directions of development of the agrarian belt, integration of the agrarian sector and water use system are substantiated. The main aspects of this integration are considered, including agricultural policy and support, introduction of innovative technologies for efficient water use in the agricultural sector and ensuring sustainable development of agriculture and water use system.

Виклики сучасного розвитку людського капіталу сільських територій України в умовах економічних трансформацій

The article is concerned with systematization of factors that hinder the development of human capital in rural areas of Ukraine and are components of the mechanism of its destruction. The factors of destruction of human capital in rural areas are: low-quality school education; poor medical care; unsatisfactory level of development of social infrastructure; monopsony of agricultural enterprises in the rural labor market; low level of development of non-agricultural species; urbanization and the growth of rural unemployment. These factors cause such challenges as low labor productivity, high potential for unemployment and marginalization, excess of mortality over birth rate, migration, low incomes and depopulation of rural areas, which, in turn, lead to the destruction of human capital in rural areas. The development of human capital in rural areas of Ukraine largely depends on social infrastructure. The revival of the village is impossible without the priority development of its social sphere, which requires comprehensive institutional and material measures. Improving the quality of educational and medical services, as well as the development of socio-cultural facilities are critically important for stable economic development and improving the well-being of the population in rural areas. The problems of implementing the strategic task of reproduction and development of human capital in rural areas are caused by the low level of innovation and technological modernization in the agrarian sector, which negatively affects labor productivity. The existing link between the development of human capital and the socioeconomic progress of rural areas emphasizes the need to create conditions for the reproduction of human capital through the development of entrepreneurship, improving the quality of labor potential and social infrastructure. Effective human capital development in rural areas requires overcoming these challenges through an integrated approach that includes innovative solutions, investment in social and productive infrastructure, and increased entrepreneurship.

The trend of economic structural transformation in Vietnam during the 2010 - 2022 period

This article is based on secondary data from the General Statistics Office and the World Bank. Using criteria to assess economic structural transformation, the article aims to evaluate the trend of economic structural transformation in Vietnam in recent years. The research results indicate that since 2010, the economic sector has shifted from a significant reliance on agriculture, forestry, and fisheries to an increasing share of industry, construction, and service sectors in the country's GDP structure. Labor in various economic sectors has shown a shift with a decreasing proportion in the agricultural, forestry, and fisheries sectors and an increasing proportion in the industry, construction, and service sectors. Vietnam's export product structure has also positively shifted, with a reduced proportion of agricultural and forestry products and an increased share of industrial processing, manufacturing, and services. The industrial and construction sectors have the highest labor productivity among the three economic regions, while the agricultural, forestry, and fisheries sectors have the lowest labor productivity. Alongside the achievements, the process of economic structural transformation in Vietnam still faces various difficulties and certain limitations. Based on these findings, the article proposes some recommendations for a more rational and sustainable transformation of the country’s economic sector.

РОЛЬ ПРОГРАМНОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ З УПРАВЛІННЯ ПЕРСОНАЛОМ У РОЗВИТКУ HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS

The article is devoted to the study of the role of new information technologies in the development of High performance work systems (HPWS), in particular, at Ukrainian enterprises. The objective grounds for the emergence of the concept are considered on the basis of the analysis of literature sources, and the benefits that an enterprise receives are identified. The article highlights the variability of the content of the concept of "high performance work systems" depending on the criteria of staff involvement or commitment. The views of scientists on the structural elements of HPWS are considered. The factors that impede the development of the concept in the business environment are investigated: imperfect distribution of powers and responsibilities, low level of leadership qualities of the manager, unsuccessful mechanism of remuneration of employees. The research focuses on the priorities for staff development in the short term. The global challenges that contributed to the development of the HPWS model in the context of achieving competitive advantages by enterprises are characterized: the tendency of human resource shortage, low labor productivity growth, changes in business strategy, and the rapid pace of digitalization of various sectors of the economy. The expediency of using automated HR management systems as a soft power of HPWS implementation is considered. Some indicators characterizing the potential of innovative development of Ukraine in the context of informatization are analyzed. The expansion of functionality in automated HRM systems from accounting functions to functions of productivity assessment and development of professional competencies of personnel, improvement of the motivation system is traced. The functional capabilities of the most popular HRM systems in Ukraine, both domestic and foreign, are analyzed in the context of the HPWS concept. It is proved that the most common modern HRM systems contain the main elements of HPWS. The disadvantages of HPWS, the overcoming of which is not related to the use of human resource management software, are revealed. Conclusions about the important role of information technology in the development of HPWS, in particular for domestic enterprises, are made.

Temporal and Spatial Changes of Agriculture Green Development in Beijing’s Ecological Conservation Developing Areas from 2006 to 2016

As an irreplaceable ecological barrier, an ecological conservation developing area (ECDA) is vital for the integrated construction of urban and rural areas and the optimization and adjustment of industrial structures. However, few empirical studies have been conducted on the spatiotemporal variations of agricultural green development (AGD) in the ECDAs of large cities. Based on the green agricultural traits of Beijing and the accessible data, we evaluated the AGD and analyzed its spatial and temporal heterogeneity in Beijing’s ECDAs by constructing a framework with 13 indicators. The results stated that energy consumption is a vital factor in green agriculture production and that the agricultural output value per unit of arable land area is the key to green agricultural revenue. From 2006 to 2016, the AGD index of the ECDA had an increasing trend, until 2012 when it followed a decreasing tendency. The AGD index of the northern region was higher than in the southern ECDA. The obstacle degree model was used to verify the AGD limiting factors, where poor infrastructure, slow agritourism, low labor productivity, and low resource use efficiency varied by districts in the ECDA. Given these findings, our study is conducive to AGD evaluation at the district (county) level for the ECDAs of large cities and provides important policy implications.

An ontological approach to the disclosure of a person's personal potential

The main problem: In the latest Messages of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to the people of Kazakhstan, it is indicated that "the systemic problems of our economy are well known. These are commodity dependence, low labor productivity, insufficient level of innovation, and uneven income distribution. Of course, all these are difficult problems, but there are specific ways to solve them. These are macroeconomic stability, economic diversification, digitalization, the development of small and medium-sized businesses, human capital, and ensuring the rule of law. However, there is still no tangible progress on these issues. Obviously, new approaches are needed" [1]. New approaches include methods and conditions for the disclosure of a person's personal and professional potential as the main value and supreme asset of any organization striving to maintain competitiveness in the market for as long as possible, which means jobs and the prospect of a decent life. As an alternative, Sayasat Nurbek believes, offering an Atlas of new professions, the country needs it first of all, because the higher education system has become detached from the real needs of the economy [2]. "For 30 years, we have not been able to create a simple applied tool for professional diagnostics and, in general, an understanding of the labor market, which professions will be in demand, and which ones will now leave the labor market or what they can transform into. Meanwhile, the stagnation in the public procurement system of Kazakhstan is failing, as the world has undergone a transformation of the labor market – digitalization is changing it. Thousands of people will be out of work because its structure and qualifications are evolving. The advent of artificial intelligence threatens the human monopoly on mental labor, which will be replaced by machines. People may cease to be in demand due to the creation of new "technological personalities (robots)" based on algorithms in mature markets, these are the forecasts of many experts" [2]. The authors of the article substantiate innovative approaches to the growth of a personality with a strong civic position, with high intellectual potential, with communicative and reflective abilities. Using an ontological approach to disclose a person's personal potential. Purpose: substantiation of the method (conditions) for the disclosure of a person's personal potential. Methods: the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete, the method of converting concrete images of objects based on their abstract essence, the speculative language of schematic images of thought. Results, their significance: in relation to life and the world of activity, a person's personal potential is manifested in actions in the positions of "individual", "student" and "subject". The use of motion vectors in the logic of descent from the concrete to the abstract, ascent from the abstract to the concrete, as well as in their combination, gives certainty to thinking. As an example, the use of methods (AAC, LSI) is shown. Description of the cycle of personal potential disclosure, considered as a transformation in educational activity into a subject, where the personal potential of a person with sufficient ways and abilities is revealed to use them both in professional activities and in life. A sufficient prerequisite is the acquisition by subjects of appropriate reflexive thinking abilities for self-determination, self-organization, self-regulation, and so on.