Structure Of Labor Demand Research Articles

Structural Change in U.S. Labor Markets

Two debates over labor market structure have occurred in the U.S. since World War II: the structuralist/aggregate demand school debate in the early 1960s and the deindustrialization debate of the 1980s. In both controversies one side offers a structural explanation in which difficulties in the labor market derive from an overall transformation of the economy. The opposing view is that labor market trends cannot be explained by a structural transformation, since no such transformation has taken place. Despite heated policy debates and impressive data collection the essential point of disagreement in both debates remains unresolved: the existence of structural change in the labor market. This paper argues that two fundamental problems have hindered a satisfactory outcome to these recurring debates over structural change in the labor market. First, each side in the debate has a different concept of structure. If a consensus cannot be reached on what structural change in U.S. labor markets means, any debate over the existence and implications of this change is bound to be fruitless. With an imprecise or inconsistent definition of structure the question cannot be settled empirically. The second and more serious difficulty is that both sides use concepts of structure that have more to do with product markets than labor markets. The focus on product markets results from the fundamental assumption that labor demand is a derived demand. This assumption is axiomatic in neoclassical theory and exerts a powerful influence even on structuralist labor economists who reject much of the orthodox approach to labor. The first part of this paper looks at the consequences of this approach to structure. Despite the fact that the debates were sparked by high unemployment and other disturbing trends in the labor market, the debates address labor market structure only indirectly. The theoretical arguments underlying the assorted views reflect a paradigmatic dispute over the nature of economic growth. The second part of the paper discusses the concept of labor market structure and suggests an alternative approach. The paper then returns briefly to the debates over structure to demonstrate how this alternative approach would clarify this controversy. The Two Labor Market Debates The initial impetus to both debates was a secular rise in average unemployment rates. The structuralist/aggregate demand school controversy resulted from an increase in the average unemployment rate to 5.8% between 1958 and 1964 (Frumkin, 1987).(1) Killingsworth (1965) argued that the trend toward higher unemployment rates was due to a structural transformation of the labor market. The disproportionate incidence of high rates of unemployment in specific segments of the labor market led to the Killingsworth twist, a forerunner of the declining middle of the 1980s. Killingsworth's conclusions were based on the observation of lower unemployment rates among more highly skilled and educated workers. However, despite the use of statistics on labor supply to support his argument, Killingsworth was arguing that it was the structure of labor demand that was undergoing transformation. Killingsworth's structuralist arguments were countered by the Council of Economic Advisors (Bowen, 1965). The Council's contention was that although specific sub-groups of the labor force were affected differently over the business cycle, there had been no secular increase in the level of structural unemployment nor had there been significant increases in the unemployment rates of groups considered to be dominated by unskilled workers. The higher unemployment rates after 1957 were attributed to a deficiency of aggregate demand. During the 1980s unemployment reached its highest level since the Depression. Many manufacturing industries were particularly hard hit by the recessions of the early 1980s leading to widespread layoffs and plant closings. Economists such as Robert Reich (1983), Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison (1982) argued that high unemployment rates and the loss of manufacturing jobs reflected long-term structural changes in U. …

Estimating Labour Supply in Policy-Oriented Regional Planning Models

The importance of integrating policies concerned with the demand and supply of labour within growing regions has long been recognized. However, there are important theoretical deficiencies associated with orthodox methods. In the traditional approach to operational urban and regional models it is claimed that the relationship between labour demand and labour supply is functional and one sided, that is, the growth of labour demand causes population growth and leads to an assured level of labour supply. However it is argued that in the development of regional labour-force policies aimed at recognized objectives, estimates of the number and characteristics of persons available to the labour force are at least as important as estimates of the structure of labour demand. A change in the traditional theoretical framework is therefore necessary to allow for the influence of a particular population structure upon the supply of labour—in aggregate as well as to different occupational submarkets. Presentation of a more independent treatment of methods aimed at estimating the ‘availability’ (and the ‘requirements’) of labour also allows for the possibility, and consequences, of imbalance in the labour market to be recognized.

Struktur der arbeitsnachfrage im technologischen Wandel — Eine empirische analyse für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland

The Structure of Labour Demand and Technical Change: An Empirical Investigation for the Federal Republic of Germany. - The estimation of translog models using German industry data for the period 1960–1981 indicates that technical progress is capital-using and at the same time saves blue-collar labour. For some industries, evidence for white-collar labour saving technical progress is found whilst for others white-collar labour using technical change is indicated. The analysis of more disaggregated labour data shows that for white-collar and blue-collar workers alike, technical change favours the higher-skilled performance groups. Furthermore, it is indicated that blue-collar labour is a substitute for white-collar labour and capital, whereas only a weak substitutive and sometimes even complementary relationship exists between white-collar labour and capital.

Prospects for European labour demand.

This paper examines the impact of economic and technological trends upon the level and structure of labour demand. It explores briefly the methods used to model the labour market with special reference to demography and technology and reviews the evidence on recent and prospective changes in labour demand for five countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A distinction is made between the differentforms in which job opportunities arise and the differentareas of economic activity in which they appear. Given the limited horizon of the projections available and the methodological difficulties of long-term forecasting, the focus is on medium-term changes. The findings nonetheless indicate the underlying trends that are likely to continue over the next decade or so.

Labor issues in Korea's future

The abundant supply of highly educated and motivated human resources, extremely favorable to the rapid growth of an export-led, labor-intensive manufacturing sector, has been the primary source of Korean economic development during the past quarter century. Now, the Korean economy is undergoing a tremendously rapid industrial structural change into an OECD-type of mature economy. This paper examines four sets of problems Korean labor will face in the transition period of the 1990s: changes in the age-sex-educational composition of the labor force; changes in the structure of labor demand, leading to possible skill mismatches; rising labor costs and reform in the remuneration system; moves toward participatory and democratic labor-management relations.

Structural economic change, labour market segmentation and interregional migration

In the 1970s there were marked changes in internal migration in Australia, with the major metropolitan areas experiencing,for the first time, significant losses in their migration interchanges with other areas. Simultaneously, country regions recorded substantial reductions in their formerly high rates of net outmigration. This paper argues that these migration changes were largely a response to the changing location and structure of labour demand: the high degree of labour market segmentation in Australia, and changes in the industrial structure of employment, together provide an explanation for contrasts in the migration responses of different demographic groups.

STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC CHANGE, LABOUR MARKET SEGMENTATION AND INTERREGIONAL MIGRATION

ABSTRACT In the 1970s there were marked changes in internal migration in Australia, with the major metropolitan areas experiencing, for the first time, significant losses in their migration interchanges with other areas. Simultaneously, country regions recorded substantial reductions in their formerly high rates of net outmigration. This paper argues that these migration changes were largely a response to the changing location and structure of labour demand: the high degree of labour market segmentation in Australia, and changes in the industrial structure of employment, together provide an explanation for contrasts in the migration responses of different demographic groups.

Alternative strategies to full employment in a regional labor market

The subject of the paper is the development of employment and man-power in the county of Borken, situated in the North-West of the FRG close to the Dutch border. It discusses alternative strategies on the labor demand and supply sides which may serve to reach full employment. The analysis includes forecasts of the supply and the derived demand for labor in 1990, disaggregated into 33 sectors and 43 occupations. The main objective is to estimate that sectoral structure of labor demand and that professional structure of labor supply which in combination would lead to full employment by 1990. Alternative optimizations show that an overall increase of employment as well as an increased professional flexibility of the labor force are necessary to reach the employment objective. The optimal strategies indicate the direction which sector adaption and professional formation policies should take.

Unemployment and the Structure of Labor Demand

Unemployment and the Structure of Labor Demand