Unionized Labor Market Research Articles

Investigation into Digital Skills in the European Union Labor Market: A Case Study of the Banking Sector

The digitization of the economy has emerged as a global trend, particularly pronounced in the past decade and significantly accelerated in the last five years. Recognizing the transformative impact of digitization on the structure of the labor market, the European Union has identified digital skills as crucial elements affecting employment and income distribution. With digital technologies permeating various sectors of the European economy over the past decade, over 40% of EU workers have encountered changes or replacements in the technologies they utilize at work. This paper delves into the political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological factors influencing the development of digital skills within the European Union, employing a PEST analysis framework, with a specific focus on the banking sector.

АНАЛІЗ СОЦІАЛЬНО-ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ СКЛАДОВОЇ ЛЮДСЬКОГО ПОТЕНЦІАЛУ ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОГО СОЮЗУ

The article analyzes the main indicators of the functioning of the European Union's labor market, which characterize the socio-economic component of the EU's human potential. The study was conducted using such general scientific and special research methods as the method of abstraction, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, graphical and analytical method, and system analysis. The socio-economic component of the human potential of the European Union was considered through the following criteria: population dynamics, number of unemployed and unemployment rate (total and by gender), gender gap in unemployment, share of young people who do not work, study or acquire professional skills (NEET generation), employment rate (total, by gender and by age group), gender gap in employment, share of self-employed, temporarily employed and part-time workers. The analysis of these indicators made it possible to outline the state and trends in the development of the labor market and the socio-economic component of the human potential of the European Union. Based on the study, it was found that the labor market of the EU countries is slowly demonstrating positive dynamics of development and the following trends: a gradual decrease in the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed since 2013; excess of the unemployment rate of women over the unemployment rate of men – the gender gap in unemployment has hardly changed in recent years and remained at the level of 0.7 percentage points; a slight decrease in the share of young people who are not working, studying or acquiring professional skills; an increase in the employment rate; reduction of the gender gap in employment, albeit at a slower pace in recent years; changes in the structure of the EU labor market, namely an increase in the share of employed persons aged 55-64 and a decrease in the share of employed persons aged 15-24, a larger gender gap in employment in older age groups, an increase in the number and share of persons with higher secondary and higher education among those employed aged 20-64; a decrease in the share of part-time, temporary, and self-employed workers in the pre-pandemic period, and an increase in part-time and selfemployment during the pandemic in 2020-2021.

Analysis of the Composition and Trends in the European Union Labor Market Between 2010 and 2020

This article aims, through research methods such as quantitative and qualitative analysis (empirical and descriptive), as well as comparison and interpretation, to highlight the composition and trends in the EU labor market between 2010-2020, given the link and mutual conditioning between socio-economic phenomena and the labor market, as part of the realities and trends of European social policy. Thus, the aim was to identify the differences between the Member States of the European Union, but also compared to the EU average, by analyzing the performance and the degree of fulfillment of the indicators pre-established by public policies, as specific objectives of social policy, aiming to ensure an adequate and non-discriminatory framework so that all citizens have equal access to resources and opportunities.In order to present the trend in the evolution of employment, we analyzed the indicators regarding the active population, activity rates, employment rate, employed population, unemployment, unemployment rate, inactive population, but also the Job vacancy rate (annual average). Last but not least, we analyzed a delicate issue at the level of some member states of the European Union, highlighting both shortcomings in the transition from the education system to the labor market, as well as shortcomings in terms of employment of a category of population, namely NEET rate.

An Empirical Research on the Behavioral Perceptions of University Students on Their ERASMUS Mobilities Abroad.

The European Union (EU) labor market needs a better-skilled workforce that can work in any of the Member States. In order to develop the skills and competencies of future competitors in this market, several student mobility programs have been set up in the EU, where they can travel to universities in partner countries to further their studies and enrich their academic performance, culture and knowledge. The best known of these programs is ERASMUS (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students). Because Romania also participates in this program in the exchange of university students, the authors wanted, through this study, to highlight the benefits and challenges of participation in the program, to analyze how international mobilities are emotionally perceived by students and what are the behavioral reasons that determine Romanian students to choose a certain university as a study destination abroad. For this purpose, the authors conducted quantitative marketing research among students from the Transilvania University of Brasov who have been abroad with ERASMUS scholarships. The research results show that an important component in choosing a certain university is not the financial expense during the mobility as might have been expected, but rather the initial desire to study abroad. Students also consider the improvement of their academic performance as an equally important reason for embarking on mobility to the social aspect of getting to know other cultures.

Unionised labour market, environment and endogenous growth

This paper develops an endogenous growth model where the labour market is unionised and the labour union is concerned not only about wages and employment but also about workers’ health, safety and environmental protection. Bargaining takes place between the labour union and the firm; and, in the bargaining solution, the firm is forced to forgo a share of its output to choose a more environment-friendly but less productive technology. The government finances public abatement expenditure using proportional income tax. We analyse properties of the welfare maximising income tax rate as well as the growth rate maximising one. We also analyse how the employment orientation bias in the preference structure of the labour union plays an important role to ensure a positive effect on the employment level, economic growth rate and on the level of welfare.

Integrating the non-EU immigrants into the EU labour market. An econometric analysis of some of the specific factors

Abstract The article explores the impact of some specific barriers to the integration of non-EU immigrants on the European Union labour market, measuring the influence of age, level of education and investments on the employment rate of non-EU immigrants. The study is based on a mixed approach, combining a statistically descriptive analysis of the 2008-2018 European labour market trends (in terms of the non-EU immigrants’ employment rate) with an econometric evaluation, aiming to measure the influence of investments (in terms of % of Gross fixed capital formation in Gross Domestic Product), age of asylum seekers (in terms of % of total asylum seekers) and level of education of non – EU immigrants (in terms of % of total non – EU immigrants). The analysis highlights the fact that the highest impact of non-EU immigrants on the employment rate is found in the case of non-EU immigrants with age between 18-34 and 35-64 years and with a tertiary level of education. For the other categories of non-EU immigrants, with ages outside the aforementioned range and with a lower level of education, the challenges are even much greater, which indicates the importance of specific educational integration policies, focusing mainly on continuous education and training.

Endogenous timing of managerial delegation contracts in a unionized duopoly

In a multiple‐stage duopoly game with strategic delegation and unionized labor market, this paper analyzes whether firms' owners decide managerial incentive contracts sequentially or simultaneously. When firms compete in quantities, firms' owners can choose incentive contracts simultaneously or sequentially, depending on the unions' relative bargaining power and the degree of product differentiation. Instead, when firms compete in prices, firms' owners set incentive contracts sequentially with substitute goods and simultaneously with complement goods.

A Simple Model for the Integration of Goods and the Capital Market with Unionized Labor Markets

[full article and abstract in English]
 The present work analyzes the effects of goods and capital market integration on welfare. In an imperfectly competitive industry with unionized labor, openness to competition via exports, the possibility of holding minority stakes into a rival company and undertaking Greenfield Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) exemplify product and capital market liberalization, respectively. Challenging the “lieu commune” that liberalization a priori improves the social welfare of an economy, making use of a game-theoretic approach, it is shown that a domestic government should design the appropriate interventions in product and capital markets depending on the precise pattern of economic integration.

Understanding the identity of a policy field: the European Commission and liberal modernization in the domain of labour and social policy

In congruence with the theme of this special issue, this paper clarifies the contribution the identitarian turn in European Union (EU) studies can make to the field. The paper explores the policy domain identity of the European Union social and labour market policy. It argues that over time, this identity has shifted considerably. Starting in the 1990s, when the Delorsian re-regulatory policy orientation slowly dissipated in favour of a more market-oriented approach in line with the so-called pink turn of centrist Social Democratic parties, the identity has undergone a number of changes. In the 2000s, the predominant identity was clearly liberal in nature, shaped by the Lisbon Agenda and a faith in the welfare-creating powers of deregulated market capitalism. By the 2010s, there was clear pushback against this image, and throughout this decade, the policy domain identity has lingered and struggled to assume a more concrete orientation. This slightly muddled and unfocused identity is in part to blame for the period of stagnation in further strides, whilst criticism of Commission overreach and intra-EU immigration have created a momentum against additional activity in this field.

A review of the tendencies and challenges in the European Union labour market

Purpose – The paper presents the phenomenon of the past decade (2008-2018) that shaped the labour market all over Europe and also points out the differences lying beneath with the changes generated in the post-crisis period. In the context of this study this literature review is intended to provide a theoretical background for the development of a piece of research revealing the new labour market phenomena. Design/methodology/approach – The study first examines theoretical frameworks, solutions, and their practical operation through international experience. Findings – The economic crisis, initially of financial nature, had its percussions felt on the state budget and went on to real economy. Its consequences were also felt on the labour market. According to global experience, modern economies and societies are facing several challenges including unemployment, labour shortage and underemployment at the same time, in spite of the fact that the level of employment has significantly been rising in the past few years. Research limitations/implications – We applied an abductive approach. The reconstruction of past events is based on abduction, as we can deduce the events from their consequences and impacts on the present. Practical implications – Both unemployment, labor shortages and underemployment result in unfavorable economic conditions in a country. It is of utmost importance to effectively address these phenomena in order to reduce and control their negative effects. Originality/Value – Our study deals with the impact of employment on the labour market, the three key phenomena of the labor market: labour shortages, chnages in underemployment and international migration (labour migration) in European Union countries. Analysis is needed because conscious economic policy begins timely preparations for these changes. Keywords: job vacancy, labour market, labour shortage, migration, underemployment Research type (choose one): research paper JEL classification: J24, J62

The political economy of Public Employment Services: measurement and disempowered empowerment?

ABSTRACTActive Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) and Public Employment Services (PES) are related components of the European Union and member state labour market policy. Typically, PES are analysed in terms of a narrow concern with efficiency and effectiveness of service. In this paper, we argue that PES are constituents in broader processes. They are not just means to facilitate employment, they are also part of transmission mechanisms for a political economy of competitiveness. They play a particular role in governance processes, and so serve to produce and reproduce power relations that are intrinsic to those processes. We argue that the technical ways that PES have been managed over recent decades has contributed to broader processes of disempowering labour, through depoliticized management practices. We argue that attempts at even limited re-empowerment of labour would require a repoliticization of these management practices.

Optimal Income Taxation in Unionized Labor Markets

This paper extends the Diamond (1980) model with labor unions to study optimal income taxation and to analyze whether unions can be desirable for income redistribution. Unions bargain with firms over wages in each sector and firms unilaterally determine employment. Unions raise the efficiency costs of income redistribution, because unemployment benefits and income taxes raise wage demands and thereby generate involuntary unemployment. Optimal unemployment benefits and optimal income taxes are lower in unionized labor markets. We show that unions are socially desirable only if they represent (low-income) workers whose participation is subsidized on a net basis. By creating implicit taxes on work, unions alleviate the labor-market distortions caused by income taxation. Numerical simulations demonstrate that optimal taxes and transfers are much less redistributive in unionized labor markets than in competitive labor markets.

Optimal Income Taxation in Unionized Labor Markets

Optimal Income Taxation in Unionized Labor Markets

Great Recession impact on European labor markets integration: cluster analyses

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the Great Recession (2008-2014) on the labor market profiles and integration process in the European Union (EU26) and in the 12 historical Eurozone countries.Design/methodology/approachThis study assesses the impact of the crisis, and applies multivariate statistical methods containing a principal component analysis and an agglomerative hierarchical clustering. Two non-overlapping sub-periods are established: a pre-crisis (1999-2007) period and a crisis (2008-2014) period, and eight European indicators are considered.FindingsThe results are threefold. First, they bring strong evidence of a significant impact of the crisis on the process of integration. Second, they interestingly reveal more heterogeneity in the aftermath of the crisis across the EU countries, while more homogeneity across the Eurozone countries. Third, this apparent homogenization is accompanied by a polarization process into two main groups of countries including Spain, Portugal, Finland and the Netherlands in one group while the rest of the Eurozone in the other.Originality/valueThis study is unique as it does not only present a snapshot of the challenges posed by the Great Recession to the European Union and Eurozone labor market profiles, but it also assesses its impact on their integration process. In addition, using the, suitable yet ignored, multivariate statistical methods on the latest data to study such an impact is another contribution of this paper.

Bargaining agenda in a unionised monopoly with network effects: when corporate social responsibility may be welfare-reducing

This paper investigates the bargaining agenda selection in a socially concerned unionised monopoly producing a network good. We show that the recently established result that under network effects the firm prefers sequential efficient bargaining may be reversed when there are social concerns. Thus, firm’s social responsibility restores also in network industries the conventional result of the trade-union economics that the firm prefers right-to-manage (RTM). However, this may result rather paradoxical because RTM is always welfare-inferior and thus the higher the social responsibility is, the lower the social welfare outcome due to the agenda selection. As a consequence an increase of the firms’ social concerns in network industries may reduce, through the channel of the unionised labour market, social welfare, in contrast with the common sense. This sheds some light on so far unexplored effects of the promotion of social responsibility activities by policy makers when also labour markets are taken into account.

Sick pay reforms and health status in a unionised labour market

AbstractWe theoretically analyse the effects of sick pay and employees' health on collective bargaining, assuming that individuals determine absence optimally. If sick pay is set by the government and not paid for by firms, it induces the trade union to lower wages. This mitigates the positive impact on absence. Moreover, a union may oppose higher sick pay if it reduces labour supply sufficiently. Better employee health tends to foster wage demands. If the union determines both wages and sick pay, we identify situations in which it will substitute wages for sick pay because adverse absence effects can be mitigated.

Endogenous timing under price competition and unions

AbstractWe investigate the endogenous order of moves in a duopoly under price competition with a unionized labor market. We show that the established results are not robust to the presence of unions. We find that when product substitutability is sufficiently high and unions are sufficiently wage‐interested the sub‐perfect equilibrium is the simultaneous choice of prices by firms (in sharp contrast to the received literature) and, moreover, the well‐known result that in price games there is always a preference for being a follower no longer holds true under unionization.

Adult education in a workplace context: recognising production workers’ responses and partnership challenges

This article is about a larger regional Swedish partnership programme that was established to develop site-based education for production workers. A partnership is seen as composed of different practice architectures. The actors involved represented larger transnational as well as smaller manufacturing companies, employers, the metal workers’ trade union, educational organizations, university researchers and public labour market authorities. Adult education teachers were engaged to act as leading action researchers on company-specific projects. The partnership programme is used here to illustrate the problem of supporting recognition under shifting partnership circumstances. The aim is to analyse enabling and constraining conditions affecting the teachers’ efforts as well as new possibilities that appeared as the partnership evolved over time. The article illustrates how the development of site-based education within a partnership framework means to develop a new practice that is very sensitive to local circumstances. It also shows how local meetings between people both enable and constrain, but also may open up a space for mutual recognition. A normative argument is that local spaces for mutual recognition need to be supported in a respectful way. Recognition of the particularities of each site is vital for this to happen.

EDUCATION AND FUTURE WORK ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS IN POLAND AND LITHUANIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Increasing the employment among young people is one of the main objectives of the European Union labour market policy. On the one hand, labour market indicators of youths are worse than the ones for the population as a whole. Moreover, the EU countries face NEETs phenomena when young people are not in education, employment and training. Simultaneously, the strong aging process in Europe and demographic changes determine the need for a particular focus on young people who are an important part of future labour force. It is crucial to equip young people with the skills and competencies tailored to the needs of employers, which also would be consistent with the attitudes and expectations of young people. That is why the authors of the paper decided to take into consideration the work and education attitudes of students in two European countries - Poland and Lithuania. These neighbouring EU member states went through comparable historical and political conditions, which influenced their economic situations also in the area of labour market. However, those countries followed different educational reforms. Lithuania implemented basic dual learning and Poland still represents more theoretical orientation in tertiary education. The research aim of the paper is to identify the differences in education and future work attitudes of Polish and Lithuanian students. Those differences were diagnosed taking into account: an assessment of own skills for a 'dream' job, perceptions of the impact of environmental factors on a future career, as well as a diagnosis of motivators to work.The chosen research methods were both secondary data analysis as well as realisation of the primary quantitative research among Polish and Lithuanian students. The survey was conducted among 500 students - roughly in half from each country. The comparison showed large similarities in the factors affecting the motivation of students to work as well as some differences in the perception of the impact of the environment on the future career. The biggest differences among students from two countries were identified in the evaluation of skills needed to find employment.

Sick Pay Reforms and Health Status in a Unionised Labour Market

Sick Pay Reforms and Health Status in a Unionised Labour Market