Unskilled Labor Research Articles

Migrants’ Remittances, Agricultural Producer Service and Wage Inequality in the Dual Economy

Previous literature finds that migrants’ remittance narrows down wage inequality between skilled and unskilled labor, since the external funds flow into the rural area and raise wage rate of unskilled labor. However, it should be noted that the structure of agricultural production has also changed and small-scale agriculture utilizes remittance to purchase producer service that could substitute unskilled labor. The paper establishes three-sector general equilibrium models and theoretically analyzes the impact of an increase in remittance rate on wage inequality between skilled and unskilled labor. In the primary stage of service sector, an increase in remittance rate reduces both skilled and unskilled wage rate and has an ambiguous impact on wage inequality. The obtained result of wage inequality is robust even when we extend the basic theoretical model by considering the popularization stage of service sector.

The race between education and technology in Chile and its impact on the skill premium

While studies using pre-2000 data for Chile implied that technological change drives the skill premium evolution, post-2000 data suggests that the supply of skilled labour expansion has reduced this premium. In contrast, literature shows a consistent link between technology and the growing demand for skilled labour, despite educational improvements, leading to skill premium increases. We examine these interactions under the race between education and technology model (RBET) for Chile between 1980 and 2018 considering the inconsistent findings (e.g., negative elasticities) reported by past studies. We also find inconsistencies using cointegration techniques. Alternatively, we apply an Unobserved Component Model using a Bayesian estimation that enforces the required economic and theoretical conditions. We find that, before the 2000s, the technological change dominated. However, in the 2000s, the demand was surpassed by educational supply increases, reducing the premium. The estimated elasticity of substitution between skilled and unskilled labour is 6.5, implying that both are more substitutable than commonly thought.

Does have-want discrepancy or have-had discrepancy explain residential satisfaction? A study of migrant workers in Wuhan, China

Research interests in residential satisfaction have persisted for decades, but there are still knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. Numerous studies have attempted to theorize residential satisfaction and identify the factors that contribute to it. Residential satisfaction is often understood as being related to the difference between one's current living conditions and a reference point, which can be either one's own aspirations or the living conditions of a peer group. This study aims to investigate and compare two potential gaps that may explain residential satisfaction: the gap between what individuals currently have and what they prefer to have (referred to as the "have-want" gap), and the gap between what individuals currently have and what they used to have (referred to as the "have-had" gap). The empirical study was conducted in Wuhan, China, and data was collected from a sample of 813 respondents, the majority of whom were migrant workers, including both skilled and unskilled laborers from various neighborhoods of the city, in July 2021. Through multivariate modeling of the data, it was found that the "have-want" gap had a greater explanatory power for residential satisfaction compared to the "have-had" gap. Specifically, dimensions such as living space, housing decoration, neighborhood aesthetics, and a noise-free neighborhood were found to significantly contribute to residential satisfaction when considering the "have-want" gap. These findings suggest that addressing and managing people's aspirations for housing is crucial for promoting residential satisfaction.

Performance of cold chain logistics service providers in the fast-moving consumer goods industry in Nigeria: a systematic review

The operations of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) businesses in Nigeria rely on the efficiency and efficacy of cold chain service providers for quality storage and optimal safety of perishable goods. However, the sector faces obstacles such as inadequate technology, unskilled labour, insufficient funds, weak regulation, and a poor regulatory policy framework, all of which impede the business’s growth and performance. The goal of this study is to systematically review the issues that restrict cold chain logistics service providers’ performance in Nigeria’s highly perishable food business. This study employs PRISMA procedure and the systematic literature review technique to extract articles and emphasize the importance of employing cold chain services to increase efficiency, quality service delivery, and consumer fulfilment. The study’s findings demonstrate that achieving quality service delivery, service effectiveness, cost savings, and customer satisfaction is hampered by a lack of proper synergy between cold chain logistics service providers and cold chain major stakeholders such as regulators, as well as an absence of skilled personnel, policy, funding, infrastructure, and technologies for monitoring and tracking product movement and condition. By remedying these difficulties, Nigeria’s FMCGS sectors could potentially improve their performance and contribute to the development of a robust, sustainable cold chain logistics industry. As a result, the quality and safety of FMCG goods would be enhanced, driving the expansion of the FMCG sector in Nigeria. Future research findings should focus on the cold chain logistics performance leverages on economic growth and development in Africa.

Clinical and epidemiological baseline characterization of Dementia cases in a specialized center in Recife, Brazil

AbstractBackgroundPopulation aging has been considered the main risk factor for the development of dementia globally. In low‐ and middle‐income countries such as Brazil, the projections are for expressive numbers due to poor socio‐economic conditions. However, the epidemiological profile of dementias in Brazil is still little known due to the scarcity of studies, especially in the northeast of the country, where poverty and illiteracy are severe.MethodRetrospective and descriptive study of data obtained from the comprehensive review of medical records after approval by the Ethics Committee. Records of cases treated between 2018 and 2021 were examined, cases that did not have information in the medical record were excluded from the study.Result128 medical records were analyzed, 109 of which met inclusion criteria. 57.8% of patients were male with a mean age of 65.3 years. 38.4% of the sample had less than 8 years of formal education and 15.1% were illiterate. Unskilled manual labor was the occupation type in 50% of the sample. The mean baseline Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was 16.88. Alzheimer’s disease was the most frequent diagnosis (37%) mostly in a moderate (22%) to advanced stage (20%) of dementia. 32% of all cases met criteria for mixed forms of Dementia. Frontotemporal Dementia (14%), Lewy Body’s Disease (6%) and Pure Vascular Dementia (6%) were also reported. 69.7% of our sample underwent magnetic resonance imaging and 24% also had access to molecular imaging methods.ConclusionThe low level of education possibly reflects socioeconomic inequalities in Brazil, since we had a lower level of education compared to epidemiological studies of Dementia in the south‐southeast region. The degree of dementia of the examined cases caught our attention, most of them in a moderate or advanced stage, probably related to the time patients wait for care at a specialized center. Such bias may also explain the high frequency of non‐AD pathologies in the sample, in contrast to data from the general population. With the limitation of its descriptive and retrospective design, the present study represents an important initiative in the sense of characterizing data on Dementia in northeastern Brazil.

Reindustrialization and Transnational Labour Regimes in Maramureș County: Between National Deregulation and Export-Dependence

Abstract The paper examines Maramureș County’s labour regime and describes its transformation from a heavily unionized formation under socialism to today’s deregulated, transnational condition. The region’s former mining cluster and current furniture production hub are posited as sectoral focal points. Union militantism prevented the mining sector’s accelerated decline in the 1990s, but liberalisation and conformity with the European Union’s regulatory frameworks gradually eroded labour rights and shifted the region’s economic profile to export-oriented sectors. Among these, domestic and foreign furniture manufacturers emerged as dominant economic actors in the early 2000s. While the county is well-known for its wood processing, the companies in question tap into IKEA’s global production network and employ low-cost, flexible labour in just-in-time supply schedules. Recent developments include the use of immigrant agency workers as a solution to the county’s skilled and unskilled labour shortage.

Prevalence of Occupational Injuries of the Oral and Maxillofacial Region and Their Covariates Among Building Construction Workers in Chennai.

Background and aim With many risky environmental conditions, civil construction sites are prone to physical injuries, especially those pertaining to the oral and maxillofacial regions. The current study was an effort to assess the magnitude and pattern of such oral and maxillofacial injuries and the factors associated with them. Methodology This descriptive study was carried out on 524 construction workers, of whom 254 met the inclusion criteria related to work site injuries. An interviewer-administered proforma with basic demographic details is used in conjunction with an intraoral examination to classify the dental injury. Descriptive statistics were done to evaluate the frequency of injury occurrence, while inferential statistics, including the chi-square test and regression analysis, were done to evaluate the association between injury and the variable under concern. Result The study includes a total of 254 participants, with ages ranging from 20 to above 50 years, of whom 230 (91%) were males and 24 (9.4%) were females. The majority, 200 (78.7%), were unskilled laborers, and 195 (76.7%) were migrant workers with language barriers. It was found that 95 (76.7%) had a history of dental injury alone, while 59 (23.2%) had a history of oral maxillofacial injury. Among the reasons for injury, the increased odds ratios (OD) were noted in the collapse of the surrounding area as 0.050 (0.029-0.075), rainy season 1.001 (0.891-1.281), unskilled labor 1.020 (0.910-1.30), and migrants 1.010 (0.901-1.200). The OD for males is 2.052 (1.941-2.101). Conclusion The current study confirms that the magnitude of workplace-related injuries is significant, and the majority of them stem from basic language barriers among migrant workers and a lack of knowledge to adhere to safety protocols and instructions given.

The Role of Globalization in the Spread of Technology and Innovation across Global Markets: The Case of China

Purpose: Globalization is a continuously unfolding process characterized by economic integration, cultural exchange, policy transfer across borders, and the dissemination of technological advancements in a contemporary digital age.
 Methodology: This research paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the globalization process, including its limitations based on existing literature in the academic continuum. Further, given China is a technological powerhouse in the global arena, the research paper also examines the role of globalization in the spread of technology and innovation across the country.
 Findings: Upon in-depth analysis of academic material, the research paper found that the globalization process arrived in waves over the years, with each wave creating economic and cultural patterns that define emerging waves including contemporary technological globalization. Technological globalization has played a crucial role in upgrading employment and wages for skilled and unskilled laborers in developing nations, disseminating technological knowledge and expertise, fostering competition between local companies and international corporations, and allowing for sustainable developments through green technological innovations from developed economies.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Studies show that China plays a crucial role in the world of technology owing to technology. Furthermore, considering that technological globalization functions as a top-down structure, China has been able to skillfully use advanced technological knowledge and expertise from developed economies to boost its economy, increase its global political agenda, and steer forward environmentally friendly or rather sustainable development.

Intermediate Goods–Skill Complementarity

Abstract Recent research has begun to imply intermediate goods–skill complementarity; however, this possible complementarity has been hypothesized but not statistically tested, despite the increasing importance of intermediate goods in production. This study provides statistical evidence regarding whether intermediate goods are more complementary with skilled labor than with unskilled labor. Using panel data from 40 countries over the period 1995–2009, we estimate a two-level constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production function. Our major findings are fivefold. First, at the aggregated one-sector level, the elasticity of substitution between intermediate goods and unskilled labor is 1.22, which is significantly greater than that between intermediate goods and skilled labor of 1.05, indicating intermediate goods–skill complementarity. Second, at the disaggregated level, such complementarity is primarily observed in heavy manufacturing industries and the service sector, whereas complementarity is observed between intermediate goods and unskilled labor in the primary sector and light manufacturing industries. Third, the normalization of the data and the cumulant estimators exhibit stronger results. Fourth, our baseline results are confirmed applying several robustness checks, such as switching skilled and unskilled labor or considering capital–skill complementarity. Finally, intermediate goods–skill complementarity tends to be higher for industries that use more imported intermediate goods.

Fur Processing in Raižiai in the 20th Century: Craft and Image

Fur Processing in Raižiai in the 20th Century: Craft and Image

From state-controlled to free migration: The income effects of the 2008 Swedish labour-migration reform

Abstract In 2008, Sweden changed its labour-migration policy to facilitate more labour migration from countries outside the EU. Most state ambitions to shape labour migration, including practices such as the use of labour-market tests and the assessment of migrants’ human capital, were abandoned and the responsibility to select migrants was transferred to employers. We use Swedish register data and adopt a difference-in-differences approach to assess the effects of the policy change on labour migrants’ labour income, in comparison to non-EU migrants who moved to Sweden for reasons other than work. The effects of the policy change are substantial. Labour migration from outside the EU increased and its composition changed after the reform, resulting in a significant decrease in mean income. We conclude that changes in their occupational composition were the main drivers of the income drop for labour migrants. In sum, the new non-selective labour-migration policy lowered labour migrants’ mean income by opening the door to unskilled labour.

Progressive income taxation and consumption baskets of rich and poor

In this paper, I analyze the implications of differences in consumption baskets across income groups to evaluate the effects of redistributive taxation on efficiency and inequality. To this end, I develop a static multi-sector general equilibrium model incorporating a parametric tax function, non-homothetic consumption preferences, and endogenous labor supply, with varying compositions of skilled and unskilled labor in production across sectors. A calibrated version of the model captures the cross-sectional differences in the compositions of households' consumption baskets in the United States. I find that considering the differences in consumption baskets between high- and low-income households leads to a lower optimal choice of income tax progressivity compared to the conventional approach that ignores this feature of the data.

Government Policy for Migrant Female Workers on the Border of Sambas Regency, West Kalimantan

The recent case study of Indonesian migrant workers has made exceptions for various parties. Their less fortunate fate is caused by the low quality of education and skills they possess so that in the end they are only forced to work in the informal sectors such as domestic workers and unskilled laborers. In the West Kalimantan border area, labor problems are becoming increasingly complex. Indeed, these workers channel economic value back to the villages, as well as bringing social change to the families left behind, especially for workers who are successful in their work. However, this has an impact on Indonesian migrant workers who cannot get legal protection from the Indonesian state and do not get employment insurance because they are not recorded in the official data of the national agency for the placement and protection of TKI (BP2TKI). To overcome the problems that occur among migrant workers in Sambas district, Several steps need to be taken, such as providing training to prospective migrant workers who will work abroad, giving the most severe punishment to individuals who provide services for placing Indonesian migrant workers abroad illegally, and strengthening agencies related to Indonesian migrant workers in carry out its duties and functions to protect Indonesian migrant workers who work abroad. For other workers, who are not as fortunate, it seems that the picture of smooth working abroad does not match the hopes and lures promised by employment agents. This research was conducted using normative quantitative method.

Unveiling the Cyclical Patterns of Historical Wage Inequality among European Building Laborers

This scholarly investigation examines the historical wage disparities between skilled and unskilled building laborers, as well as gender-based disparities among unskilled male and female workers in major European metropolises including Vienna, Warsaw, Krakow, and Istanbul. While exploring inequality, the study reveals that significant events such as wars, pandemics, and economic fluctuations have a cyclical impact on wage and gender inequality throughout history. However, it should be noted that gender inequality was only examined in the UK. By delving into the dynamics of wage and gender inequality during the medieval and early modern eras of Europe, this study provides a deeper understanding of the complexities of these social issues.

Institutions, Gender, and Net Nutrition during Economic Development: The United States from 1860s–1930s

Gender-based institutions influence resource allocation within the household and when other measures for economic welfare are scarce or unreliable, the use of biological measures are now standard in economics. This study uses late nineteenth and early twentieth century BMI, statures, and weight to assess how net nutrition accumulated to women and men during U.S. economic development. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, female and male BMIs, statures, and weight remained constant over time. Unskilled laborers’ BMIs were higher, their statures were taller, and their weights heavier than workers in other occupations. Women and men from the Northeast and Middle Atlantic had higher BMIs and shorter statures, while their counterparts from the South were taller and had lower BMIs, indicating that it was superior Southern cumulative net nutrition associated with lower BMIs

Marx's Ideas on Work Organization: Reinvestigating the Conceptions of Cooperation, the Division of Labor, and Machinery

Harry Braverman's “degradation thesis” is only one aspect of Marx's analysis of the labor process. A close reading of Chapters 13 to 15 of Capital Vol. 1, based on English and Japanese preceding studies, shows a dual system of work organization under the capitalist mode of production: concentrated and dispersed. Today's information and communications (ICT)-based work organization could be seen as an example of the latter, i.e., an online-controlled putting-out system. The concentrated work organization has two types: the automation-oriented model consists of mechanized processes maintained by unskilled labor. In contrast, the craft-oriented model is a set of mechanized work that requires different kinds of skilled labor. These definitions urge us to reconsider the general law of capitalist accumulation and the traditional strategy regarding class struggle.

Hooliganism as a problem of public order in the Ukrainian SSR in the early 1950s

The article examines the topical and insufficiently studied in historical and legal science issue of the factors that caused hooliganism in the early 1950s, the level of this type of crime in the main regions of Ukraine at that time and some steps taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR to reduce hooliganism. Hooliganism occupied one of the main positions in the list of offences committed by young people. The factors of hooliganism had their roots in the years of war and post-war devastation, which were the childhood and adolescence of the majority of those who committed crimes under the relevant article “Hooliganism” of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR.
 The complex events of this time certainly affected the psyche and psychology of these people: they saw violence in all its forms, often being brought up in the absence of their father, who was at the front. The famine of 1946–1947, malnutrition during the war, lack of proper living conditions, and often housing, also affected their psyche. Their educational and cultural levels were also insufficient. The age of these hooliganism perpetrators was 18-25 years old, which also influenced their behaviour and actions. The incompletely formed character and marginality inherent in young people generally played a negative role in their development as positive individuals. Homelessness and neglect of children and adolescents played a detrimental role in the escalation of hooliganism in the 1950s. The war and post-war devastation deformed the normal process of initial socialisation of children and adolescents, which had a detrimental effect on the set of social roles and cultural norms they learned and served as one of the reasons for the rise in hooliganism in peacetime. The amnesty of March 1953 did not improve the political situation in the country and only worsened the crime situation. Hooliganism became widespread among urban working-class youth, especially among the social group that lived in dormitories and worked on construction sites of industrial enterprises, i.e., was mostly unskilled labour.
 The memorandum by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR T. Strokach to the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee O. Kyrychenko dated 30 September 1953 contains numerous facts of hooliganism in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dniprodzerzhynsk, Sievierodonetsk and other cities of the republic. These facts show that hooliganism was often senseless and cruel, led to more serious crimes (murder, rape), and was usually committed while under the influence of alcohol. According to the criminal law doctrine of that time, it was believed that there were no socio-economic reasons for hooliganism, and that its manifestations arose as a result of shortcomings in law enforcement and youth education. But this was an erroneous point of view, an attempt to hide from the real problems.

Social Justice, Globalization and Fate of Marginalized Communities of India: Some Observations

"First globalization" is a phrase used by economists to describe the world's first major period of globalization of trade and finance, which took place between 1870 and 1914. The "second globalization" began in 1944 and ended in 1971. This led to the third ERA of globalization, which began in 1989 and continues today. Globalization has benefitted western countries like US, France, UK, Germany and Asian countries namely Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and China. All over the world it has given mixed benefits to the people. For the educated, skilled, urbanites it has given many benefits. The people who are placed in the upper strata of society are chief beneficiaries of globalization. On the other hand the disadvantaged sections of Indian society comprising of SCs, STs, minorities, poor, unskilled labors are the losers of benefits of globalization. The present paper examines the impact of globalization on marginal communities of India.

Modern services led growth and development in a structuralist dual economy: Long‐run implications of skilled labor constraint

AbstractMotivated by the South Asian experience, this paper examines the role of expansion of skilled labor force for modern services led growth and development in economies with low average educational attainment. The model economy consists of two capital‐using sectors—a service sector that employs only skilled labor and an industry sector that does not require skilled labor. The service sector represents modern skilled‐labor intensive services whereas the industry sector represents a typical South Asian industry. Supply of unskilled labor is unlimited but skilled labor is relatively scarce and grows at a finite rate. Increase in the skill premium only partially explains growth of skilled‐labor supply while the rest depends on autonomous factors, which may be influenced by education policies of the government. The main result specifies a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of a unique steady state characterized by balanced sectoral growth at a rate determined by the autonomous part of skilled labor growth. A low wage share and stagnant investment conditions in the industry sector are conducive for both existence and local stability of this steady state. The model shows that supply‐side factors may completely determine steady state growth rates in structuralist models despite presence of unemployed resources.

Trade Implications on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIS) Due to COVID-19 Pandemic and India China Altercation

ABSTRACT: India's pharmaceutical sector has been one of the largest manufacturers of generic drugs globally. During the pandemic, most countries were dependent on imports of generic drugs from India. However, India has been relying on resources from China for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) which are the raw material for preparing generic drugs. We considered, in our analysis, branded product groups of Paracetamol and Amoxicillin due to their extensive use in the treatment of COVID-19. From a thorough market analysis of both the drugs, we conclude that firms have a monopoly over their brands but compete within the same product group and operate in their respective market under varying prices within certain bandwidths which resembles the feature of monopolistic competitive market. We have introduced compensating function a la Helpman (1981) in the pharmaceutical goods market with the assumption that an 'ideal product' exists among the pharmaceutical goods. Given the framework, this paper explores a general equilibrium model set in a monopolistic competitive product market for branded drugs. We concluded through our propositions that expanding the pharmaceutical sector will increase the employment of unskilled labor under no capacity constraint. We will observe an increase in wages of unskilled labor only under full employment conditions wherein we would observe that the expansion of pharmaceutical good will increase wages in the unskilled labor market. However we obtain an intriguing result wherein we obtain that despite instances of limiting trade dependence on China through implementation of policies like 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and 'profit linked incentive schemes', yet to maintain the status quo in the global market for generic drugs, India's dependence on China would increase, owing to API imports due to the pandemic crisis. While India can grab the opportunity in the form of increased demand for pharmaceutical goods to increase the employment level of the economy but this improvement in welfare is also dependent on the degree of dependency of API India has on China. The Indian government has recognized the same through the incorporation of 'Covid-Suraksha' and PLI schemes to minimize import dependency, and accelerate the development of APIs and the production of indigenous drugs.