Poor Labor Research Articles

Ograničen uticaj produktivnosti na izvoz gotove konfekcije i ekonomski rast u Bangladešu

This study investigates the moderating role of labour productivity on the relationship between readymade exports and economic growth in Bangladesh using annual time series data from 1983 to 2019 using the ARDL method. This study examines the moderating impact of labour productivity on the link between readymade garment (RMG) exports and economic growth in Bangladesh taking time series data from the year 1983 to 2019 using the ARDL model. The most important factor that is impacting the competitiveness of Bangladesh's RMG industry is poor labour productivity trends. A long-run positive relationship between RMG exports, labour productivity, and economic growth is observed. The RMG export earnings are significantly improving the economic growth of the country both in the long and short run. The policy implication is improving labour skills, providing training, and the use of information technology in the RMG sector will promote economic growth.

Integrated assessment of water footprint and energy production efficiency in different rice-rape rotation systems

Rice-rape rotation is one of the most important agricultural production systems in China. Studies were conducted to assess the water footprint (WF) and energy production efficiency (EPE) of six rice-rape rotation systems. Results showed that the annual equivalent yield in the wet directly seeded rice-rape rotation system was higher than that in the dry directly seeded rice-rape and transplanted rice-rape rotation system. However, the total energy input, and WF in the dry directly seeded rice-directly seeded rape (DDR-DR) rotation system were lower than those in other rice-rape rotation systems, while the energy production efficiency (EPE) was higher than that in other rice-rape rotation systems. The key to reducing the total energy input in the rice-rape rotation system is to reduce water and nitrogen inputs and tillage intensity during rice season and the nitrogen fertilizer rate in rape season. In summary, the wet directly seeded rice-directly seeded rape (WDR-DR) rotation system is suitable for promotion in rice-rape rotation production areas with good irrigation conditions and labor shortages, while the DDR-DR rotation might be the preferred planting mode for rice-rape rotation production areas with poor irrigation conditions and labor shortages.

Aiding Animals: Does Foreign Aid Reduce Wildlife Crime?

The illegal wildlife trade has come to the forefront of global politics, driven by concerns about biodiversity loss, illicit markets, and animal-borne infectious diseases. Yet, poaching remains common in many countries. The persistence of illegal hunting is attributable to (among other factors) poverty and poor labor market opportunities, which leave individuals in some communities with few viable alternatives to wildlife crime. Foreign aid that alleviates poverty and unemployment may, therefore, lead to a reduction in illegal hunting. However, cross-national research on aid and economic development offers mixed findings, suggesting a conditional effect. Against this backdrop, I theorize that aid reduces the economic pressures that contribute to poaching, but only in countries with representative political institutions. I test a corresponding hypothesis using data on elephant poaching in African and Asian countries. My findings show that aid is accompanied by a reduction in elephant poaching in democracies, but not in authoritarian countries.

Exploring Ways to Deepen Sino-Russia Agricultural Cooperation Under New Circumstances

Research objective. This paper analyzes the foundation, existing problems and future development trend of Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation under the new situation. Research methods. Data analysis and comparative research were used in this paper. Research content. Russia has abundant land and poor labor resource but China has contrary situations. Which not only provides favorable conditions for agricultural trade, but also breeds huge potential for agricultural cooperation. As China and Russia continue to expand the opening of the agricultural product market, agricultural trade has gradually become a new bright spot in the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. The development of agricultural cooperation between China and Russia has the advantages of obvious geographical advantages, strong complementarity of agricultural resources, and continuous improvement of cooperation policy planning. At the same time, there are practical difficulties such as low scale and level of agricultural cooperation and imperfect agricultural cooperation infrastructure. Conclusion. The agricultural cooperation between China and Russia is to optimize the allocation of resources and is in line with the common interests of the people of two countries. The agricultural cooperation between China and Russia shows the continuous improvement of cooperation policies and plans, the increasing variety of agricultural trade, and the continuous expansion of agricultural cooperation areas and regions. In the future, the two countries will strengthen communication between the government and the people at all levels, strengthen the construction of agricultural infrastructure, strengthen Sino-Russian cooperation in agricultural science and technology ,coordinate agricultural preferential policies and promote further agricultural cooperation between two countries

Assessing the competencies of construction supervisors in providing work-based training components for construction labour – Sri Lankan perspective

PurposeStudies highlight that poor labour supervision and inadequate labour training facilities are the primary factors that result in labour skill shortages and productivity-related challenges among construction firms. This study aims to assess the construction supervisors’ abilities in providing work-based training elements and evaluating labour skills in construction.Design/methodology/approachA construction supervisory training programme was newly designed with a set of labour training exercises using comprehensive approaches. A total of 64 construction supervisors were trained to deliver the labour training components for more than 250 labourers working on 23 construction projects in Sri Lanka. The supervisors’ competencies were assessed using a detailed marking guide developed through expert discussions and literature reviews.FindingsThe results show the detailed cross-section of a wide range of competencies of the construction supervisors in providing labour training elements with the levels of standards/descriptions. The generalisability of the study applications and the reliability of the results were ensured using statistical tests and expert reviews. The findings further describe the impacts of the well-improved competencies of construction supervisors on labour working patterns and work outputs.Research limitations/implicationsThough the study findings were limited to the Sri Lankan construction sector, the study applications can have a considerable impact on the current/future practices of the construction sector in developing countries as well as other developing industries.Social implicationsThe study outcomes may contribute to a rapid increase in the number of construction supervisors becoming certified assessors of National Vocational Qualifications up to certain levels. This paper describes the further extensive implications and future scopes of the study elaborately.Originality/valueThe study adds new characteristics and values to construction supervision practices that can be remarkable in achieving higher levels of performance and productivity in labour operations. Importantly, the study contributes to adorning the job role of construction supervisors with the title of “labour training expert”.

Land without Masters: Agrarian Reform and Political Change under Peru's Military Government

Land without Masters: Agrarian Reform and Political Change under Peru's Military Government

The Portuguese Dilemma of Unstable Pensions

Portugal’s high public debt, its weak economic growth and its great attractiveness for foreign tourists are legend. Less well known is its unstable system of public pensions. This article addresses the underlying economic and political reasons, such as poor labour productivity, low real wages, insufficient immigration of trained people and the failure to find alternative ways of financing retirement. NextGenerationEU will effectively soften Portugal’s macroeconomic budget constraints, but it carries the risk of further postponement of necessary policy changes and reforms.

Factors Affecting Construction Productivity for Steel Rebar Work in Hot Climate Country

Introduction: Construction industry is increasingly emphasizing productivity due to its effect on key performance indicators such as schedule, budget, and quality of work. This study aims to identify and rank the factors affecting the productivity of steel rebar work in construction projects in a hot climate. Among the activities involved in structural reinforced concrete work, fabricating and placing reinforced steel on a construction site is considered the most labor-intensive, outdoor, and time-consuming. Methods: In this paper, an intensive qualitative literature review is conducted to identify the factors affecting the productivity of steel rebar work in concrete construction. Initially, forty factors were identified from the literature affecting the productivity of steel rebar work in Saudi Arabia. Final list of thirty-seven factors was used in the questionnaire survey. The identical nature and core content of these factors are clustered and grouped into five categories: technical, labor, management, external, and financial. As part of this study, fifty contractors working in the Saudi Arabian construction industry are recruited to participate and complete a structured pilot study questionnaire. Results: The results of the questionnaire are weighted using the pairwise comparison method and then ranked based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process technique. The analysis of the thirty-seven factors results in a top ten list of the leading factors that directly impact the productivity of steel rebar work in concrete construction projects in Saudi Arabia. These factors are (1) humidity, (2) delay of salary, (3) sandstorms, (4) payment delay by client, (5) labor's low wage, (6) lack of financial incentives, (7) labor work experience and skills, (8) completeness of drawings, (9) poor labor relations, and (10) labor absenteeism. The general trend in these studies is that the factors tend to vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, from one construction project to another, and are directly related to the zone or country of construction. Conclusion: These findings benefit stakeholders working in the concrete construction industry in Saudi Arabia, particularly project managers, project planners, cost estimators, and civil design and site engineers working on construction projects.

Narratives in Kailash Satyarthi’s Nobel Peace Prize lecture: an analysis of rhetorical agency

In 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize was jointly awarded to Indian-born Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani-born Malala Yousafzai in recognition of their struggle against the suppression of children. They accepted the prize on behalf of the world’s children who were facing injustices such as poverty, poor labor conditions, forced servitude, and terrorism. Since the Nobel Foundation statutes require the Nobel Laureates to give a lecture at the Nobel Prize Ceremony, Kailash Satyarthi—whose speech is the focus of this study—delivered a Nobel Peace Prize lecture on December 10th, 2014, at Oslo City Hall, Norway. In his lecture, he raised the plight of millions of children on the global stage. This paper offers new insights into the narrative rhetoric concerning each child’s freedom in his Nobel Peace Prize lecture, which demonstrates his life-long mission to help children to enjoy their childhood. Adopting an overarching theoretical lens of narrative rhetoric and agency perspective, the paper analyses the speaker’s agency in his narrative of the plight of children in the face of injustices prevalent across societies and cultures. In doing so, the paper highlights Satyarthi’s employment of narrative rhetoric coupled with his rescuer agency, which appeals to the global citizens to create peaceful, humane, and just societies for children. We argue that his narrative serves as a powerful rhetorical device for arguments, which reinforces his ethos as a life-long champion of children’s rights.

COVID-19-DRIVEN SOCIETAL SUSTAINABILITY IN THE APPAREL SUPPLY CHAIN: INSIGHT FROM MUSLIM-MAJORITY COUNTRIES

The current COVID-19 epidemic unveils the vulnerability in the apparel supply chain (ASC). Many workforces are facing future uncertainty due to pandemic-driven job losses. This study aims to comprehend the causes of societal sustainability deficiency in the ASC in Muslim-majority countries and propose strategies supporting a suitable improvement.� Information gathered from experts using a qualitative research method; reveals that the primary cause of the lack of societal sustainability is the dominating power of several brands in the ASC. The usage of contract workforce and illegal subcontracting of apparel production also disrupt the protocol of societal compliance. Besides, the lack of application of Islamic ethics in business operations leads to poor labor conditions causing disruption in labor-societal security. The study proposes that it is imperative to adopt a sustainable procurement framework that integrates the sharing of disturbance risks among suppliers and brands post-COVID-19 crisis. It is also crucial to prohibit suppliers operate illegal subcontracting of apparel manufacture. Besides, brands� order allocation plans and supplier selection must be adjusted to enable the workforce�s societal security. Contribution from labor unions and NGOs must be urged to achieve the grassroots level in community development schemes. As this study involves the Muslim-majority context, mitigation strategies from the Islamic ethics perspective are also considered helpful for solving societal sustainability issues in the ASC.

A tool to help the honest poor: itinerant trading in great-Britain through the lens of late-Victorian legislation (1860–1900s)

ABSTRACT The last third of the nineteenth century was a turning point in terms of legislation surrounding itinerant trading in Britain. Liberal governments sought to adapt to what they perceived as the decline of peddling and encourage its transformation into a makeshift activity for humble labourers. This shift took place during the chancellorship and primeministership of William Gladstone. It reflected the popularity of self-help and the desire to improve the lot of the labouring poor in the late-nineteenth century. Encouraging peddling appeared to be an adequate tool to help poor labourers and subsidise working-class consumers, as itinerant traders supplied them with cheap goods. The period was thus marked by debates about the relevance of taxing hawkers: the Pedlars Act 1871 and Hawkers Act 1888 lowered the price of their certificates. Reformers and police constables, however, were also concerned by the ‘decline’ of peddling. They advocated for stricter control of the sellers, often likened pedlars to vagrants, and their salesmanship. The ‘self-help’ objective of the national legislation was furthermore debated and contested by local authorities, to which more powers were devolved in the late-nineteenth century. In some municipalities, it was mitigated by legislation related to urban planning, street cleanliness or shopkeepers’ interests.

Recent intra‐metropolitan patterns of spatial mismatch: Implications for black suburbanization and the changing geography of mismatch

AbstractKain's spatial mismatch hypothesis (SMH) (1968) highlights the segregation of Black population in the inner city as well as the decentralization of jobs, both of which played a role in the poor labor market outcomes for Black residents in the inner city. Demographic and economic changes in U.S. metropolitan areas since the late 20th century have transformed the urban spatial structure. This paper aims to revisit the SMH and investigate whether the spatial pattern of mismatch has changed as a result of geographic shifts in the Black population. This paper specifically examines how the suburbanization of the Black population has affected the geographic patterns of mismatch and whether the mismatch is disappearing in the major U.S. metropolitan areas. Using spatial measures of mismatch, this paper presents intra‐metropolitan spatial mismatch patterns that capture the clustering of jobs and the Black population based on their relative distributions, showing that the overall level of spatial mismatch declined in major U.S. metropolitan areas between 2000 and 2015. However, geographical evidence reveals that the spatial mismatch has shifted to the outer suburbs, replicating city‐suburb spatial inequality, implying that although mismatch may have declined in the inner city due to Black suburbanization, spatial mismatch continue to persist in U.S. metropolitan areas in Black suburbs. The findings also demonstrate that although spatial mismatch generally declined in the inner city, it increased in cities with high inner city polarization, particularly New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Cannabis and Tobacco Use Among Young People and Labor Market Outcomes in Midlife: A 23-Year Population-Based Longitudinal Study.

Research suggests an association between cannabis use and adverse labor market outcomes, but the mechanisms are unknown. We studied the nature of this association by comparing the relative roles of cannabis and tobacco use in predicting midlife outcomes. We analyzed data from the Young in Norway Study, a 23-year longitudinal investigation (N = 2,550; 56% female). Cannabis and tobacco use, potential confounders, and mediators were assessed by self-report. We used register data on income, years Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), and welfare benefits. We compared cannabis users (7%) and regular tobacco users (15%) with nonusers. After confounders were controlled for, cannabis users had lower income (income decile difference = -1.31; 95% CI [-1.83, -0.80]), had more NEET years (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.87; 95% CI [1.34, 2.61]), and received welfare benefits more often (odds ratio [OR] = 2.84; 95 % CI [1.56, 5.17]). Tobacco users also earned less (income decile difference = -0.51; 95% CI [-0.86, -0.17]) and received welfare benefits more often (OR = 1.74; 95 % CI [1.14, 2.66]) but did not have more NEET years (IRR = 1.22; 95% CI [0.94, 1.59]). The reduction when controlling for confounders was larger for tobacco than for cannabis. Including mediators further reduced the associations for tobacco use considerably, whereas only slight reductions were observed for cannabis. The robust associations of cannabis use with poor labor market outcomes, even after adjustments, seem to differ from how tobacco use is related to such outcomes. More knowledge is needed about causal effects of cannabis use on important life domains.

Young people’s job-search strategies in the German apprenticeship market: Who relies on referrals by strong ties and why?

Social capital is often regarded as an important resource when searching for a job. However, unlike in the general labor market, in youth labor markets, leveraging network contacts does not necessarily enhance young people’s chances compared to formal job-search methods. Who then uses referrals by strong ties to support their school-to-work transitions? Drawing on the German National Educational Panel Study, we focus on noncollege-bound students searching for apprenticeship places. We investigate whether parental referrals are more likely to be used as a compensation strategy for limited opportunities due to regional conditions and lower levels of schooling and whether this search strategy entails a trade-off in terms of higher dropout risks. Our results indicate that in regions with poor regional labor market conditions, young people use parental referrals more often and also increasingly find apprenticeship places via referrals. Moreover, using referrals does not result in higher dropout risks. Lower-educated school leavers are also more likely to use referrals but they do not benefit from this search channel more than higher-educated youth. We conclude that social contacts can at least partly compensate for poor opportunities due to regional market conditions.

Building a better understanding of labour exploitation's impact on migrant health: An operational framework.

There is limited evidence on labour exploitation's impact on migrant health. This population is, however, often employed in manual low-skilled jobs known for poor labour conditions and exploitation risks. The lack of a common conceptualisation of labour exploitation in health research impedes the development of research measuring its effects on migrant health and, ultimately, our understanding of migrants' health needs. To develop an operational conceptual framework of labour exploitation focusing on migrant workers in manual low-skilled jobs. Non-probabilistic sampling was used to recruit multidisciplinary experts on labour exploitation. An online Group Concept Mapping (GCM) was conducted. Experts: 1) generated statements describing the concept 'labour exploitation' focusing on migrants working in manual low-skilled jobs; 2) sorted generated statements into groups reflecting common themes; and 3) rated them according to their importance in characterising a situation as migrant labour exploitation. Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster Analysis were used to produce an operational framework detailing the concept content (dimensions, statements, and corresponding averaged rating). Thirty-two experts sorted and rated 96 statements according to their relative importance (1 "relatively unimportant" to 5 "extremely important"). The operational framework consists of four key dimensions of migrant labour exploitation, distributed along a continuum of severity revealed by the rating: 'Shelter and personal security' (rating: 4.47); 'Finance and migration' (4.15); 'Health and safety' (3.96); and 'Social and legal protection' (3.71). This study is the first to both generate an empirical operational framework of migrant labour exploitation, and demonstrate the existence of a "continuum from decent work to forced labour". The framework content can be operationalised to measure labour exploitation. It paves the way to better understand how different levels of exploitation affect migrant workers' health for global policymakers, health researchers, and professionals working in the field of migrant exploitation.

Ethnicity, gender, and migration status: Applying intersectionality methodology to explore barriers to equitable health systems for maternal and newborn health among immigrant populations in Masindi, Uganda.

Globally, 298,000 women die due to pregnancy related causes and half of this occurs in Africa. In Uganda, maternal mortality has marginally reduced from 526 to 336 per 100,000 live births between 2001 and 2016. Health facility delivery is an important factor in improving maternal and neonatal outcomes. However, the concept of using a skilled birth attendant is not popular in Uganda. An earlier intervention to mobilize communities in the Masindi region for maternal and newborn health services discovered that immigrant populations used maternal health services less compared to the indigenous populations. The aim of this qualitative study was therefore to better understand why immigrant populations were using maternal health services less and what the barriers were in order to suggest interventions that can foster equitable access to maternal health services. Five focus group discussions (FGDs) (three among women; 2 with men), 8 in-depth interviews with women, and 7 key informant interviews with health workers were used to better understand the experiences of immigrants with maternal and newborn services. Interviews and FGDs were conducted from July to September 2016. Data were analyzed using content analysis and intersectionality. Results were based on the following thematic areas: perceived discrimination based on ethnicity as a barrier to access, income, education and gender. Immigrant populations perceived they were discriminated against because they could not communicate in the local dialect, they were poor casual laborers, and/or were not well schooled. Matters of pregnancy and childbearing were considered to be matters for women only, while financial and other decisions at the households are a monopoly of men. The silent endurance of labor pains was considered a heroic action. In contrast, care-seeking early during the onset of labor pains attracted ridicule and was considered frivolous. In this context, perceived discrimination, conflicting gender roles, and societal rewards for silent endurance of labor pains intersect to create a unique state of vulnerability, causing a barrier to access to maternal and newborn care among immigrant women. We recommend platforms to demystify harmful cultural norms and training of health workers on respectful treatment based on the 12 steps to safe and respectful mother baby-family care.

Employment trajectories until midlife in schizophrenia and other psychoses: the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

PurposePsychoses are associated with poor labour market attachment, but few studies have compared schizophrenia (SZ) and other psychoses (OP). Moreover, studies on long-term employment trajectories over individuals’ working life courses are lacking. We compared 30 year employment trajectory patterns in a general population sample among individuals with SZ, OP, and those with no psychosis (NP).MethodsUtilising the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, we collected survey data on employment from ages 16 to 45 and detected individuals with register-based history of SZ (n = 62), OP (n = 87), or NP (n = 6464) until age 46. Through gender-specific latent class analyses on annual employment roles, we identified traditional, highly educated, self-employed, delayed and floundering employment trajectories with distinct socioeconomic characteristics. We addressed attrition by conducting weighted analyses.ResultsFloundering trajectories were common among individuals with SZ (79% of men, 73% of women) and OP (52% of men, 51% of women). In NP, a traditional employee trajectory was most common in men (31%), and a highly educated trajectory in women (28%). A history of psychosis was associated with heightened odds ratios (ORs; 95% confidence intervals (CIs)) for floundering trajectories in both men (SZ: 32.9 (13.3–81.4); OP: 7.4 (4.0–13.9)) and women (SZ: 9.9 (4.6–21.5); OP: 3.9 (2.1–7.1)) compared to NP. Weighted analyses produced similar results.ConclusionMost individuals with SZ or OP have floundering employee trajectories reflecting an elevated risk of unemployment and part-time work until midlife. These results indicate the importance of improving labour market attachment during the early phases of psychoses.

Naïve or Persistent Optimism? The Changing Vocational Aspirations of Children of Immigrants at the Transition from School to Work

Abstract Children of immigrants are found to have higher aspirations than their native peers, despite lower educational outcomes and poor labour market opportunities. Analysing the development of aspirations shows that students with a migration background not only aim high while still in compulsory education, but also stay optimistic. This persistent optimism indicates that the high aspirations are not the result of a naïve misconception of labour market opportunities, but that the children of immigrants are inherently more ambitious than their native peers.

Economic Gap and Labor Problems Policy in a Third World Country During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Inequality of Education within the Thai Social Class Structure

This research article has IRB (HE-DRI-NRRU024/2565; 0623.9/038) and it will try to explain the effect Of COVID 2019 by qualitative research to online-student, and the poor labor (who loss job by freezing business/economic activity). Economic gap and labor problems policy in a third world country during the coronavirus pandemic: Re-structuring and re-connect to inequality of education of class structure. The disharmony of Vaccine became a topic of international politics due to the fact that international organizations on public health and medicine were unable to curb the pandemic. Small children lacked of supportive resources to study online due to the lack of basic structure in information technology and internet. The economic-social gap from classes in the Thai society were negatively affected from the “economic development policy”. It becomes inequality (true) VS modern (fake), or “the riches are clustered but the poors are scattered (lack of technology learning)”. Coronavirus diplomatic vaccines were negatively regarded as a war of vaccine. It reflected fake cooperation among international communities. Vaccine assistance from bilateral agreements or between states worked out but failed on multilateral agreements (the delay, the near expiration date of vaccine). The war of vaccine resulted in 2 terms: torn or injected. From the abovementioned description, the research drew the conclusion as follows Thai Bureaucratic ’s policy: (1) Scarcity: Problems of the gap in economic development worsened the political contention in Thailand during the city lockdown, (2) Expectation (economic halt) and unemployment are problems of policy-inequality: “the management of vaccine affected online learning”, and impacted the shrink of a new graduate number to enter the labor markets, (3) Fear of the virus (war): Problems (asymmetry-inequality) of powers of international politics and the failure of public health international organizations should to seek the ways to handle the virus in the future rather than multinational corporations.

A Mathematical Modeling of Evaluating China’s Construction Safety for Occupational Accident Analysis

China has seen a rapid increase in its construction industry in recent years; however, safety conditions of their workers have not improved owing to low education levels and increasing age trend of construction personnel. This study analyzed construction occupations in China from 2010 to 2018 using descriptive analysis, ANOVA and factor analysis. The results showed May, July and August as the deadliest months during the peak of construction activities in the year. No particular day was established as having a higher risk than other days in the week. The most vulnerable times of the day are from 9 AM to 10 AM and 2 PM to 4 PM. A mathematic modeling based on factor analysis, which is the construction safety evaluation score equation, was developed to illustrate regional distribution, and Qinghai Province ranked the worst in construction safety in China. Problems such as poor labor and environment safety management procedures and false reporting or concealed reporting of construction accidents were revealed. Suggestions for improving China’s construction safety were also generated. This study enriched statistical analysis results of construction accidents in China and evaluation modeling with an abundant database will serve as a reference for stakeholders and researchers to improve the construction safety situation in China.