Public Sector Jobs Research Articles

A Job, Any Job : The UK Benefits System and Employment Services in an Age of Austerity

This paper looks at the recent past of the benefits system and employment services in the UK and how they have operated through more than five years of austerity. The UK presents an interesting case, as the unemployment rate following the financial crisis has recovered faster than expected. The major reforms of welfare-to-work programmes and cuts to the public sector, together with continued labour market flexibility, have been identified as the source of this triumph. Yet behind this apparent success story is another picture. Many public employment service programmes in the UK were contracted out to private employment agencies following the Coalition Government’s 2011 reforms. A much more restrictive and punitive benefits system and an emphasis on pushing people into work, whatever its quality or stability, has driven the rise of precarious and part-time employment. It is an important time to take stock of the effects of continued austerity and public sector job cuts, as well as the extreme shift to a deterrent model of benefit provision. Using the UK context, we might question what makes for a ‘successful’ story on job creation and what kind of social toll there is to advocating “a job, any job” through the benefits and employment services systems. In particular, I suggest that by paying attention to the experience of those who use the benefits and employment services systems, we might learn about the effects of austerity and welfare reform on public services in a more meaningful way.

Economic well-being of rural farm households in Ghana: A perspective of inequality and polarisation

This paper investigates economic well-being of rural farm households in Ghana from the perspective of inequality and polarisation, using data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey rounds 5 and 6, and within the framework of disparities in ecological locations, farm size holdings and the main occupation of household heads. It also examines sources of income polarisation and inequality and their implications for poverty distribution among the rural farmers. The results show that distribution of the major crops cultivated generally vary across the farmer categories. Also, biases exist in income distribution among the farmers. The main source of inequality and polarisation is the differences within the individual categories of farmers, however, with respect to the ecological locations, between-group differences is the main source of polarisation. We find that greater proportion of the poorer farmers are found in the savannah zones, as well as among the smallholders and where household heads are engaged in self-employed agricultural activities. Contrarily, large-scale producers, farmers in forest areas, and where farm household heads are in public and private sector jobs are richer. Generally, poverty is concentrated within the farmer categories that incur higher polarisation and inequality indices and have also contributed the greatest to the total inequality and polarisation, whereas the categories that incur the lowest of the indices and have contributed the least to the total indices are wealthier. These findings suggest inequality and polarisation should be mitigated in tandem, and targeting the categories harbouring larger proportions of poorer farmers can reduce poverty more effectively.

Evaluating the vocational thoughts of university students about the departments they are studying

The aim of this study is to reveal the vocational thoughts of university students about departments they are studying. The sample of the study consists of 1040 students; 608 (60,6%) of them are female, and 396 (39,4%) of them are male students who are studying in the different faculties of the Selçuk University (Health Sciences, Law, Veterinary, Collage of Science, Faculty of Letters, Communication, Agriculture, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Engineering),and they selectedby random sampling method. The average of age of the students is varying between 19 and 39. The average of age is 22. During the data collection phrase “Demographic Information Form”; during the evaluation of the data frequency polygon is used.At the end of the study it is detected that 743 (74%) of the students are willingly, and 261 (26%) of the students are unwillingly came to the department they are studying. Also; the uneasiest situation for the students’ future is to not find a job for 492 (49,0%) of them, financial difficulties for 282 (28,1%) of them, mate selection for 230 (22,9%) of them. At the same time, it is confirmed that 679 (67,6%) of the students want to work in public sector, and 325 (32,4%) of them want to work in private sector after graduation. It is seen that 198 (19,7%) of the students define unemployment as not to find a job in public sector, and 806 (80,3%) of them define unemployment as not to earn income. 458 (45,6%) of the students who participated to study are pleased with the employment opportunities, but 546 (54,4%) of them are not. It is detected that students of the departments of Social Work, English Language and Literature, Civil and Mechanical Engineering are pleased with employment opportunities after graduation, but the students of the departments of Statistic, Biology, Chemistry, History of Art, Sociology are not. Also, 395 (39,3%) of the students stated that they think they will be unemployed when they graduated, 609 (60,7%) of them do not think they are going to be an unemployed; departments of Social Work, English Language and Literature, Civil and Mechanical Engineering students stated that they are not going to become unemployed when they graduated,but the students of the departments of Statistic, Biology, Chemistry, History of Art, Sociology stated that they are going to become unemployed.Most of the university students choose their departments willingly. What makes university students anxious most is being unemployed. Students want to work in public sector when they graduate. For the unemployment anxiety that students are experiencing, state has to develop new policies related with employment. In order to make students believe that they would find job easily, apart from the departments they enroll in, alternative ways for career development can be provided.

Job satisfaction in Cascadia: A comparison of British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington civil servants

Canada and the USA share a common cultural source in the British Empire, yet within shared democratic traditions, very different political structures, policy processes, and values have been identified. Canada is seen as having a more deferential culture more supportive of government while Americans have been argued to be more individualistic and cynical about the role of government in society. Using a political culture framework, this study examines the degree to which Canadian and U.S. civil servants perceive societal respect for their public sector jobs, and the impact of those perceptions on individual job satisfaction. It is argued that if civil servants feel more valued by society, they are more likely to have higher levels of public service motivation, which then contributes to higher levels of individual job satisfaction. This study employs surveys of Oregon, Washington and British Columbian civil servants conducted in 2011 and 2012 to investigate this relationship. Findings suggest that British Columbian civil servants feel more valued by society when compared to Oregon and Washington civil servants, and these perceptions of positive societal support are associated with higher levels of individual job satisfaction.

Why the youth are so eager for university education? Evidence from Iran’s labor market

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to estimate the wage difference between overeducated and adequately educated workers in a sample of semi-skilled and low-skill occupations in Iran’s labor market. The objective is to see if overeducated employees in these occupations enjoy higher wages in comparison to their adequately educated co-workers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the propensity score matching (PSM) model to estimate the wage difference between overeducated and adequately educated workers in a sample of semi-skilled and low-skill occupations in Iran’s labor market. The PSM method allows the authors to prevent selection bias by comparing each group of overeducated workers with a matched group of adequately educated workers with similar socio-economic characteristics.FindingsThe results show that in Iran’s labor market, the overeducated workers enjoy a wage premium in the range of 10-25 percent for their excess education when they have to work in semi- or low-skill occupations. While this relative advantage has gradually declined for private sector employees over the period 2001-2013, it has remained stable for public sector jobs. The result is attributable to the fact that salary and benefits for public sector employees are directly linked to education attainment and their work experience. The findings show that the relative wage advantage of overeducation is larger for the younger employees with ten or fewer years of experience who have more education than older workers. Overall these findings offer an explanation for the strong desire of Iranian youth for university education. If a university graduate finds a job that matches her/his specialization she/he will enjoy a higher salary than a high school graduate. If she/he has to accept a semi-skilled or low-skill job for which she/he is overeducated, she/he still enjoys a wage premium over her/his co-workers who are not overeducated.Originality/valueThe analysis makes three unique contributions: first, the authors use a unique and detailed micro-data for an economy (Iran) in which the public sector dominates the private sector. The authors investigate the hypothesis for private and public sectors separately. Second, the authors divide the sample of workers into market newcomers and experienced workers. The authors analyze the impact of overeducations on each group separately. Third, the authors use the treatment effect of being overeducated on the individual’s monthly wage by the PSM. The advantage of the PSM method is that it eliminates the selection bias in the wage effect of overeducation, whereas the traditional regression-based techniques may result in this type of bias.

Dishonesty and Selection into Public Service: Evidence from India

Students in India who cheat on a simple laboratory task are more likely to prefer public sector jobs. This paper shows that cheating on this task predicts corrupt behavior by civil servants, implying that it is a meaningful predictor of future corruption. Students who demonstrate pro-social preferences are less likely to prefer government jobs, while outcomes on an explicit game and attitudinal measures to measure corruption do not systematically predict job preferences. A screening process that chooses high-ability applicants would not alter the average propensity for corruption. The findings imply that differential selection into government may contribute, in part, to corruption. (JEL C91, D12, D73, H83, K42, O12, O17)

Quality of Malaysian teachers based on education and training

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how the quality of teachers based on education and training provided under new reform policies in Malaysia affects their earnings outcomes. The study conducted a benefit and returns analysis guided by human capital theory.Design/methodology/approachThe study used survey research methods to investigate human capital formation in the teaching profession using teachers’ qualifications, benefits and private rate of returns as key variables in the estimation.FindingsEarnings and experience levels were highly correlated with teachers’ education levels, as suggested by human capital theory. The private rate of returns in earnings for each additional year of schooling of teachers was found to lie between 3 and 4 per cent per year. Discrepancies were apparent in teachers’ qualifications and licensure levels regionally and at academic levels, as expected. These correlated with earning levels.Practical implicationsImprovements in teachers’ salary and employment opportunities will attract higher quality graduates to the teaching profession. Teachers’ annual earnings in Malaysia are comparable to other public sector and private professional jobs in the nation but lag far behind those of the world’s top education systems. Increasing teachers’ earnings will attract better qualified teachers. Policymakers could address these issues.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates the utility of economic analyses in terms of earnings returns, to evaluate the Malaysian policy of upgrading teachers’ qualifications as a mechanism to improve the overall quality of schooling. Such studies are rare but needed to understand the benefits and returns of policy-driven teacher education and training investments. This study provides new evidence of schooling returns using a recent, national data set.

Is Maratha Demand for Reservation Tenable?: Evidence from India Human Development Survey

Year 2016 witnessed massive agitations by ‘dominant’ castes such as Marathas in Maharashtra, Jats in Haryana and Patidars in Gujarat demanding reservation in education and government jobs. Though several commentaries have attempted to identify factors contributing to such demands, there has been lack of evidence on what exactly is current status of these communities relative to the rest of the caste groups in respective states. This paper fills that gap by presenting descriptive findings on economic and educational status of Marathas in Maharashtra by utilising India Human Development Survey. The paper finds that on an average, Maratha households have higher incomes and lower poverty relative to the others with the exception of Brahman households. They are also over-represented in government and public sector jobs and in white collar or professional occupations when compared with their share in the sample. Hence, demand for inclusion of Marathas among ‘Other Backward Classes’ is untenable. But at the same time, a large section of Marathas are in the two bottom income quintiles and engaged in occupations that are not well-paying. Further, a substantial proportion of them are in rural areas and in some instances, rural-urban dimension turns out to be more important than the caste dimension. Thus, caste alone is unlikely to capture various ways in which households are deprived. How does one move beyond caste and incorporate other dimension leading to deprivation is an important policy question that needs urgent attention.

Patronage in the Allocation of Public Sector Jobs

In all modern bureaucracies, politicians retain some discretion in public employment decisions, which may lead to frictions in the selection process if political connections substitute for individual competence. Relying on detailed matched employer-employee data on the universe of public employees in Brazil over 1997-2014, and on a regression discontinuity design in close electoral races, we establish three main findings. First, political connections are a key and quantitatively large determinant of employment in public organizations, for both bureaucrats and frontline providers. Second, patronage is an important mechanism behind this result. Third, political considerations lead to the selection of less competent individuals.

Why Political Competition Can Increase Patronage

Patronage is important in developing countries, but its relationship to political competition has received little attention. Major literatures generate opposing predictions. In the good governance and democracy literatures, robust political competition is the antidote to patronage. But for scholars studying the process of democratization, competitive politics is associated with heightened social tensions and instability. Using data from an original survey covering 88% of local governments in Ghana, I show that political competition can increase patronage: where local elections are closely fought by the two main parties, local governments provide significantly more public sector jobs. I use qualitative data from 9 months of fieldwork to show the causal channel. I find a bottom-up phenomenon in which pressures for patronage come from parties’ own volunteers. Volunteers actively use their parties’ vulnerability in competitive elections to extract rewards. I locate the root of volunteers’ power in the nature of the party system, and I demonstrate that for 19 African countries, variation in party system strength is linked to certain forms of clientelism. These findings challenge assumptions that competitive politics will reduce patronage, as well as assumptions that a decline in one form of clientelism means a decline in all forms of clientelism.

Vertical skill mismatch and wage consequences in low‐skilled jobs: Evidence from Iran

AbstractUsing microdata from Iran's Household Income and Expenditure Survey, the authors investigate the incidence of over‐education over the period 2001–12 and show that the ratio of workers with post‐secondary education increased steadily in many low‐skilled jobs that required lower educational attainment. Their econometric analysis shows that the odds of over‐education were higher for women than for men and that the likelihood of over‐education also had a strong negative association with a worker's experience. Additional econometric tests reveal that over‐education had a negative impact on workers' wages in the private sector but that the opposite was true for public sector jobs.

Testing Public Administration's Separation of Powers Theory: Exploratory Support from a Study of Public and Private Sector Jobs

ABSTRACTDavid Rosenbloom’s separation of powers approach to understanding the complex value-driven work of public administrators is an oft-cited, conceptually powerful framework. This article is a first effort to empirically test his framework. It explores the extent to which Rosenbloom’s distinct and normative value sets (managerial, political, and legal) objectively reflect individuals’ perceptions of how public servants should perform their jobs and the role that public service motivation (PSM) may play in these evaluations. It finds that when comparing public sector and private sector jobs, individuals assign more similar levels of importance to the managerial, political, and legal values for public than private sector jobs, thus providing support for the importance of public administrators to integrate these three approaches in their work. Additionally, it finds that the higher an individual’s PSM, the more likely that a political or legal frame, rather than a managerial frame, will be the individual’s primary approach to management.

The effects of public sector employment on the economy

Public sector jobs are created because governments opt to provide goods and services produced directly by public employees. Governments, however, may also choose to regulate the size of the public sector in order to stabilize targeted national employment levels. However, economic research suggests that these effects are uncertain and critically depend on how public wages are determined. Rigid public sector wages lead to perverse effects on private employment, while flexible public wages lead to a stabilizing effect. Public employment also has important productivity and redistributive effects.

International Financial Institutions and Labour Rights: Rhetoric versus Reality

6 | International Union Rights | 24/1 FOCUS | WORLD BANK AND IMF International Financial Institutions and Labour Rights: Rhetoric versus Reality Labour organisations have long been critical of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. In particular, groups argue that policy prescriptions attached to international financial institution (IFI) loans, which emphasise labour flexibility, wage cuts, and reduced public sector jobs, amount to ‘cookiecutter policies that harm the interests of working people’ (Lloyd and Weissman 2007: 7). Politically, these policies are seen as undercutting the power of labour groups, decreasing both their ability to protect members as well as their relative political power. A large body of academic scholarship has studied the ways in which IFI programmes affect recipient countries. While earlier studies primarily focused on macroeconomic implications, more recent systematic research has also begun to examine the socio-political impacts. Thus far, results have been decidedly negative. For instance, Abouharb and Cingranelli (2007) found that structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) are significantly related to political repression– the programmes created a pernicious dynamic in which loan conditions encouraged anti-government protests that were often violently repressed. Subsequent work has found these programmes to be negatively associated with women’s economic rights, particularly freedoms from work and pay discrimination as well as workplace harassment (Detraz and Peksen, 2015). There is some evidence, however, that these programmes may ultimately serve to support some democratic reforms (Abouharb and Cingranelli 2007; Birchler et al. 2016). Somewhat surprisingly, less attention has been devoted to the labour rights implications of IFI policies. For its part, until recently the IMF has overlooked the possible effects of their programmes on labour conditions. In a welcome break, a recent IMF report (Jaumotte and Buitron 2015) noted the importance of a strong collective bargaining regime to reduce income inequality and secure better wages for low and middle-income earners. The report specifically finds that ‘the decline in unionisation appears to be a key contributor to the rise of top income shares’ (p. 31) to the detriment of those in other groups. Given the dearth of IMF research in the area of labour rights, the significance of this release was noted by labour scholars. For example, Manborde (2015: 7) observed in an earlier edition of this journal that the report finally attested to the importance of trade unions as necessary ‘economic and political correctives’ in the ‘kind of free market economy created by the mainstream political parties’. Somewhat sardonically, Cross (2015: 10) welcomed the IMF’s ‘foray into the realm of union rights’, though noting that it ultimately did little beyond refuting ‘some of the lazier assumptions on the effects of stronger trade unions’. Paucity of labour research aside, the IMF and World Bank have long noted the potential social and economic harm that their policies can cause, and have at the least expressed rhetorical support for labour rights. For example, over twenty years ago then IMF Director Michel Camdessus (1996) noted that IMF programmes should ‘contribute to improving human living standards’, States should take measures to assist with the ‘human costs of adjustment’ and labour organisations can play a key role in helping countries deal with the possible adverse impact of globalisation. Subsequent efforts on the part of these institutions have gone somewhat beyond rhetoric. By the late 1990s, the IMF began to incorporate promises to improve labour rights, specifically compliance with ILO core labour standards, into its loan conditions (Anner and Carraway 2010). One scholar argued that both IFIs have helped to increase the influence of the ILO and that ‘contrary to widespread opinion, the IMF and World Bank have become quasi-partners (with the ILO) in promoting labour rights’ (Stallings 2010: 13). For example, representatives from each organisation make it a practice to attend the others’ meetings and the World Bank’s procurement standards for contractors include core labour standards (Stallings 2010). At the least, this marks an encouraging break from their traditional view that, famously noted by former World Bank President James Wolfensohn (Lloyd and Weissman 2001, 11), that such organisations do ‘not get involved in national politics’. Thus while it has long been argued that IFI policies bode poorly for labour rights, there is some evidence that these...

AGGREGATION WITH SEQUENTIAL NON-CONVEX PUBLIC - AND PRIVATE - SECTOR LABOR SUPPLY DECISIONS

This paper explores the problem of non-convex labor supply decisions in an economy with both private and public sector jobs. In contrast to Vasilev (2015a), the sectoral labor choice is made in a sequential manner. Still, the micro-founded representation obtained from explicit aggregation over homogeneous individuals again features different disutility of labor across the two sectors. Thus, there is little merit in the timing of the sectoral non-convex labor choice.

Effort-reward imbalance, overcommitment and their associations with all-cause and mental disorder long-term sick leave - A case-control study of the Swedish working population.

To investigate if effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and overcommitment (OC) are associated with all-cause and mental disorder long-term sick leave (LS), and to identify differences in associations between genders, private versus public sector employees and socioeconomic status groups. The study uses a cross-sectional case-control design with a sample of 3477 persons on long-term sick leave of more than 59 days and a control group of 2078 in employment. Data on sick leave originate from social insurance registers, while data on health, working and living conditions were gathered through a survey. The binary logistic regression was used to test the multivariate associations. Effort-reward imbalance was associated with all-cause LS among the women (odds ratio (OR) = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.2-2.08), but not among the men. Associations for mental disorder LS were evident for both ERI and OC among both genders (ERI/OC: women OR = 2.76/2.82; men OR = 2.18/2.92). For the men these associations were driven by high effort, while for the women it was low job esteem in public sector and low job security in private sector. Among the highly educated women, ERI was strongly related to mental disorder LS (OR = 6.94, 95% CI: 3.2-15.04), while the highly educated men seemed to be strongly affected by OC for the same outcome (OR = 5.79, 95% CI: 1.48-22.57). The study confirmed the independent roles of ERI and OC for LS, with stronger associations among the women and for mental disorders. The ERI model is a promising tool that can contribute to understanding the prevailing gender gap in sick leave and increasing sick leave due to mental disorders. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;29(6):973-989.

Why are Egyptian Youth Burning Their University Diplomas? The Overeducation Crisis in Egypt

In September 2015, student unions in Egypt staged several protests in front of the higher education ministry. They were protesting a number of issues, such as inadequate educational resources in universities and restrictions on political activities on campus. In one of several simultaneous protests on September 11, a group of university graduates set their PhD and MBA certificates on fire to protest their inability to find suitable jobs despite these advanced degrees. They were particularly upset with the government’s failure to create more public sector jobs for university graduates. This unusual symbolic protest by these angry university graduates followed a protest a day earlier in front of the higher education ministry by high school students and their parents, who were demanding an increase in the admissions capacity of public universities.

AGGREGATION WITH SEQUENTIAL NON-CONVEX PUBLIC - AND PRIVATE - SECTOR LABOR SUPPLY DECISIONS

This paper explores the problem of non-convex labor supply decisions in an economy with both private and public sector jobs. In contrast to Vasilev (2015a), the sectoral labor choice is made in a sequential manner. Still, the micro-founded representation obtained from explicit aggregation over homogeneous individuals again features different disutility of labor across the two sectors. Thus, there is little merit in the timing of the sectoral non-convex labor choice.

The moral geographies of public sector job relocation: discourses of compensation and competence in the Swedish news press

Previous research has pointed to the fact that ideological images of geographies are bound up with the ongoing struggle for economic and social resources, and that moral values and emotions are central in rendering such images intelligible and accepted. To explore this further, we critically engage with the ways in which moral values and emotions contribute to the (re)production of centres and peripheries in the Swedish news press reports of public-sector job relocations. We deploy the discourse theoretical notion of ideological fantasy to critically explain the forces that make particular moral and emotional judgements comprehensible. We identify two discourses in the news press material – one about competence and one about compensation – built up by morally and emotionally charged articulations. We argue that ideological fantasies worked as driving forces both in this moral and emotional news debate and also in the ongoing constitution of geographies.

District Health Officer Perceptions of PEPFAR's Influence on the Health System in Uganda, 2005-2011.

Background: Vertically oriented global health initiatives (GHIs) addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), have successfully contributed to reducing HIV/AIDS related morbidity and mortality. However, there is still debate about whether these disease-specific programs have improved or harmed health systems overall, especially with respect to non-HIV health needs. Methods: As part of a larger evaluation of PEPFAR’s effects on the health system between 2005-2011, we collected qualitative and quantitative data through semi-structured interviews with District Health Officers (DHOs) from all 112 districts in Uganda. We asked DHOs to share their perceptions about the ways in which HIV programs (largely PEPFAR in the Ugandan context) had helped and harmed the health system. We then identified key themes among their responses using qualitative content analysis. Results: Ugandan DHOs said PEPFAR had generally helped the health system by improving training, integrating HIV and non-HIV care, and directly providing resources. To a lesser extent, DHOs said PEPFAR caused the health system to focus too narrowly on HIV/AIDS, increased workload for already overburdened staff, and encouraged doctors to leave public sector jobs for higher-paid positions with HIV/AIDS programs. Conclusion: Health system leaders in Uganda at the district level were appreciative of resources aimed at HIV they could often apply for broader purposes. As HIV infection becomes a chronic disease requiring strong health systems to manage sustained patient care over time, Uganda’s weak health systems will require broad infrastructure improvements inconsistent with narrow vertical health programming.