Regular Labour Force Research Articles

Effect of Human Capital on Economic Growth in South Africa: an ARDL Approach

This study tests the influence of human capital expressed by spending on education on South African GDP during the period 2021-2000, depending on the self-regression model of the distributed time gaps (ARDL). This work aimed to study the effect of Human Capital (H) on GDP per capita in South Africa during the period 2000-2021, based on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The study results concluded that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between GDP and the independent variables (physical capital K, labor force L, and Human Capital H). The results revealed that there is a positive effect of Human Capital on GDP (moral for K) in the short run, and an adverse effect of Human Capital on GDP in the long run due to the interest in employing internationally qualified professionals, contributing to an increase in unemployment and indigenous workers’ health and well-being rates. These findings are consistent with the H-related literature. Likewise, from the results of the short-run test, L is the largest among the independent variables by (0.65), K by (0,086), the least of which is H with a coefficient of (0,029). This indicates that H (skilled workforce) in South Africa does not play an important role in the individual GDP in South Africa compared to the regular labor force due to its large size compared to the qualified labor. With regard to the long-run results, there is a negative impact of H on the local product due to the fact that the interest in supporting the qualified workforce coming to South Africa contributed to increasing unemployment rates and influencing the luxury of indigenous workers in South Africa. The study recommended the necessity of supporting local skills. The support must include enhancing skills for all three categories of workers (skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled).

Tackling Ethnic Minority Disadvantage: The Differential Impact of Short-term and Long-term-Oriented Strategies on Subsequent Job Matches and Sustainable Employment

In the Netherlands, the generic work-first support seems unable to mitigate the scarring effects of prior unemployment on ethnic minorities’ careers. This study compares the impact of vulnerable ethnic minorities participating in an alternative employer-based employment programme with a control group entitled to work-first support on employment up to ten years later. We look at how both labour market interventions with different time horizon strategies may close the employment gap with the regular labour force. Results indicate that programme participants from (non-)western groups achieve higher levels of (competitive) employment than the control group, but the programme’s impact is negligible for the most established ethnic groups. The improved short-term wage match can partially explain the additional programme effect when considering the different time horizon strategies. Our results call for more employer-based programmes providing vulnerable ethnic minorities with the desired skills for better employment prospects, e.g. skill-shortage jobs.

Sample Surveys and Population Censuses as Data Sources on the Second Generation of Migrants: Foreign Experience

The increasing role of migration in the world makes the integration of migrants into host societies a crucial social process. In the long run, integration is closely related to the topic of the second generation of migrants and their relative well-being in society. In Russia, which attracts a large number of migrants, the integration of the second generation is also very important but the understanding of it is fragmented due to the small number of relevant studies. The task of obtaining relevant data on migrants' descendants and their participation in social and economic life requires taking into account the wealth of foreign experience in studying this topic.This paper provides an overview of approaches to the study of the second generation of migrants in the United States, Canada and Western European countries. The review is based on analytical and methodological publications of national statistical agencies and international organizations (UN, OECD, Eurostat), metadata from special sample surveys and a number of academic articles. The authors discusses the main data sources used to estimate the number of second-generation migrants and to provide information on their socio-economic characteristics, such as censuses and microcensuses, regular labour force surveys and ad hoc sample surveys. The article describes nuances in the definition and evolution of the concept of «second generation» in the national statistical systems. The results of studies on the social mobility of descendants of immigrants are summarised.In conclusion, we offer practical recommendations for modernizing the system of statistical recording of migration in Russia based on the long-term foreign experience of studying the second generation of migrants.

Effect of Female Employment on Child Educational Outcomes: Evidence From an Employment Guarantee Program

This paper examines how the child’s educational outcomes are impacted by the mother’s participation in an employment guarantee program versus mother’s participation in the regular labor force in India. Using the survey data from India Human Development Survey I and II, I estimate this effect by analyzing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005. I use household specific and parent specific characteristics as controls. Regression analysis and propensity score matching techniques are used to determine the causal relationship. The results show that the participation of mothers in MGNREGA work leads to a decrease in the test scores of the children. While MGNREGA is an important source of employment for households in the rural areas, especially women, this paper shows that increased participation can lead to negative spillover effects for the children.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN CHUVASHIA IN 1929–1934

The issue of accelerated USSR modernization at the regional level is understudied in the historical science. The evolvement of the industrial complex of the textile industry in Chuvashia is reinterpreted taking into account archival documents that are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The article deals with the evolvement of the industrial complex of the textile industry in Chuvashia in 1929–1934. The purpose of the article is to provide insight into the problems connected with the evolvement of ChASSR textile industry enterprises within the framework of industrialization. The author analyzes the development of light industry enterprises of national standing in the region and the formation of regular labor force, textile production and the main problems faced by the regional leadership during forced modernization. The documents of the State historical archive of the Chuvash Republic were used as a source base. The period from1929 to 1932 is marked by transition to the planned management of the ChASSR textile industry and implementation of all standards for the delivery of agricultural raw materials. In 1932–1934 the People’s Commissariat of light industry of the ChASSR together with the Nizhny Novgorod region launched linen-scutching plants of national standing, which could become a technical basis with qualified specialists for the modernization of the regional textile industry. The article concludes that accelerated transformations in the textile industry took place without taking into account local characteristics. In the region there were no large enterprises of the textile industry, on the basis of which the leadership of the region could carry out forced modernization with minimal financial costs.

Optimum Production Planning Problem (A Case Study of Aspect Water Company Limited Intechiman Municipality)

All production firms aim at maximizing profit after sales of their products but due to lack of technological and scientific approach in the production setting, many cannot achieve the stated objectives. This study showed the trend of production of sachet water at AWCL which gave the quantity of sachet water produced in each month for the year, 2011. The major objective of this study is to minimize the total cost of production at AWCL using Linear Programming model. The optimal solution to the production planning problem was generated by LP Solver and the demand and supply at each month were determined. The AWCL incurs cost of GH¢1.2355 when producing a bag of sachet water but with the use of linear Programming model, the cost of producing a bag of water was reduced to GH¢0.831519. The analysis also showed that, increasing the wages of regular workers and reducing that of overtime help the company to produce more with minimum cost of production. AWCL should employ more overtime labour when it is necessary to meet the urgent demands from the customers. Instead of employing more manual labour force, the company could have used machinery that can do assembling and packaging of the sachet water. Computer – based planning (scheduling) help the manufacturers to attend to orders from their respective customers easily and to enhance on – time delivery of products. The computerized planning performs better and faster than manual scheduling tools. The analysis showed that the production planning can facilitate the production processes in a way that help the company to streamline the activities that go on during acquisition of raw materials for production and the demands from the customers could be met when the wages of regular labour force are increased. Keywords: Linear Programming Model, Optimum Production of Sachet water, LP Transportation Model DOI : 10.7176/JIEA/9-4-01 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

Economic Performances of German Agri-Food Businesses: an Extension of Existing Discourses on the Topic

Considering the circumstance that literature dealing with the economic performance of agri-food businesses in general, or particularly with the German agricultural sector, mainly deals with strictly agricultural-related theory in order to explain the economic success of agri-food businesses, the present paper aims to extend existing discourses to further areas of thought. Consequently, the characteristics: a) increased size of agribusiness, b) pull-strategies, c) the development of new markets and d) focus on the processing industry, that all correspond to the current picture of the German agricultural sector and are considered to be significantly responsible for recently managing to outpace the French agri-food sector, will be first explained in their success against the background of mainly non-agricultural-related literature. By doing so helpful and rather unnoted perspectives can be contributed to existing discourses. Second, the paper presents scatter plots which portray correlations between a) the added value of agriculture and the regular labor force, b) the added value of agriculture and the number of agricultural holdings and c) the added value of agriculture and the number of enterprises concerning milk consumption. Corresponding scatter plots which show different developments in Germany and France can be related to the findings of the first part of the paper and allow new perspectives in existing discourses as well.
 JEL Classification: Q10

METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE ANALYSIS OF BUDGETARY INSTITUTION LABOUR RESOURCES

Introduction. Quality and timeliness of services, which are rendered by budgetary institutions, depend on the level of staff assistance, skills of employees that directly provide these services. The human resources of the institution with qualitative and quantitative characteristics have become the subject of the research. Purpose. The article aims to find out the directions for the analysis of labour resources of budgetary institutions taking into account the special aspects of their activity. Method (methodology). It has been suggested that the analysis of the budgetary institution labour resources should be carried out according to the following directions: analysis of staffing; analysis of fluctuation of personnel (employee turnover); analysis of qualitative characteristics; analysis of working environment; motivation and remuneration of labour; labour productivity of budgetary institution employees. Analysis and evaluation of the budgetary institution labour resources should be carried out by applying the following types of analyses: structural and dynamic (methods of horizontal and vertical comparative analyses); parametric (calculation of coefficients and other relative ratios); factorial (by making use of elimination methods); heuristic (polling method, questionnaire survey, synectics, etc.). Groups of indicators in compliance with which it is expedient to carry out the analysis (taking into consideration special aspects of the budgetary institution activity) have been defined within the framework of the suggested directions for the analysis. In order to assess working efficiency an integral index, which should include a range of internal indicators of employee performance as well as evaluation of their work by service consumers, has been suggested. Results. Budgetary institution management should systematically analyse the state of labour resources according to the specified directions. According to analysis report, the management should work on the ways of improving the quality of labour, methods of staff motivation, and the final outcome, which is the enhancement of performance efficiency of employees (regular labour force, administration, supporting personnel) and institution as a whole. The procedure of analysis of such constituents as working time fund and assessment of institution employees’ performance efficiency requires further development.

Unions and wage inequality

The impact of unions on the structure of wages has recently attracted renewed interest as analysts have struggled to explain the rise in earnings inequality in several industrialized countries. Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States provide a potentially valuable set of countries for examining this question. All three countries now collect comparable data on wages and union status in their regular labor force surveys. Several features of the collective bargaining institutions of these countries make them suitable for studying the relationship between unions and wage inequality. Bargaining is highly decentralized; there are no general mechanisms for extending collective bargaining provisions beyond the “organized” sector; and the fraction of the work force covered by collective bargaining is relatively modest. Thus it is possible to compare the structure of wages for workers covered by union contracts to those who are not covered, and potentially infer the effect of unions on overall wage inequality.

FARMERS‘ WIVES ‐ THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE FARM BUSINESS

The contribution which farmers' wives make to the farm business is typically overlooked and under‐valued, yet the farm could not function without it. The paper describes the nature of the work done by wives on farms in the UK and Ireland as revealed by two recent postal surveys. Using data from the Farm Business Survey for England and Wales, it attempts to quantify some aspects of the work. It is suggested that farm wives may contribute 5 per cent of the manual hours worked by the regular labour force and 9–10 per cent of the total regular labour input on main holdings. Further, as hired and family labour is shed and farmers seek additional employment, the wife's labour contribution is likely to become more significant. Continued neglect of women's involvement may jeopardise the future of the family farm. The paper suggests how data collection procedures might be improved to give a more realistic picture of the wife's contribution.

The Regular Labour Force Survey as a Quality Survey of the Finnish 1985 Census

The Regular Labour Force Survey as a Quality Survey of the Finnish 1985 Census

Methodological nuances and pitfalls of benefit-cost analysis: A critique

The recent paper by Hill, Banks, Handrich, Wehman, Hill, and Shafer, entitled “Benefit-Cost Analysis of Supported Competitive Employment for Persons with Mental Retardation” was critiqued. Concerns were of three types: logic, omission, and imprecision. Logically, Hill et al. incorrectly interchanged the concepts of cost-benefit ratio and net benefits; defined the taxpayer's perspective inconsistently; and appeared to double-adjust for inflation. Omissions included taxpayers' cost of paying benefits to workers from the regular labor force who were displaced by workers from the Hill et al. project; and certain costs and benefits when an individual changed from a minimally productive day program to an employment program. Finally, many cost and benefit estimates appeared to be extremely coarse, and to err in the direction of favoring benefits over costs. Most critically, Hill et al. reported their figures as absolutely true, when it would have been preferable to present a range of feasible cost and benefit estimates to test the sensitivity of their reported net benefit to reasonable variations in the values of its components. The ranges suggested by the present authors generally supported the conclusions of Hill et al., but reduced the certainty that taxpayers would benefit from their program.