Use Of Labor Force Research Articles

Female Labour Force Participation Rates in Rural Pakistan: Some Fundamental Explanations and Policy Implications

Labour supply is a key element in socio-economic development, and although the size, growth and composition of population have a strong bearing on its supply in an economy, the actual labour supply is a function of the labour force participation rate defined as the ratio of the population engaged in or seeking gainful employment to the working-age population. In Pakistan gainful employment means not only work for pay or profit but also unpaid help from family members, and the working-age population refers to the group of those aged 10 years or more. Although the use of labour force for computing participation rates has been criticised on the ground that it lays undue emphasis on market activities which have little relevance tb the less developed countries, particularly to the rural sector, (Standing 1978), it is nonetheless useful in studying household decisions regarding allocation of available time between productive and non-productive activities (Rees 1973). It is basically this division of labour between productive and non-productive activities that sheds light on the degree of development of an economy and, therefore, on the organization of factors of production (Yotopoulos 1986). The significance of rural participation rates, especially those of females, is noteworthy in this regard as there is a positive association between female productive work and the level of development achieved (Denti 1968). Female participation rates are also important for a proper understanding of the productive and reproductive roles of the population. As more than 70 percent of rural population depends on agriculture for its livelihood and rural females are nearly half of the total, their participation rates may be of critical importance in determining the rates of saving, investment and productivity in agriculture. It may also be noted that availability of labour in agriculture is also a function of the ready availability of female labour, especially for such operations as are performed exclusively by females, e.g. cotton picking.

Size - Productivity Relationship in Pakistan's Agriculture in the Seventies

A large majority of the less developed countries, including Pakistan, suffer from low levels of productivity in agriculture. In view of the scarcity of farm land and the limitations of intensive margins of cultivation, the importance of raising these levels may not be underestimated in terms of a more judicious use of labour force, rapid growth of agricultural production and increased availability of funds for industrial development. Productivity gains favouring well-to-do farmers, however, may produce undesirable results such as deterioration of income inequalities, political instability and social unrest, and must be avoided as far as possible. It is in this context that the distribution of productivity gains among various size groups should be taken to be as important as the aggregate growth of farm productivity, if not more.

Les besoins d'emploi : contenu et problèmes posés par leur satisfaction

a l'emploi doivent, dans cette allocation, voir leur importance reconnue, et notamment ceux lies a la notion d'empioi « efficace » pour resorber le chomage structurel.

A Study of the Labor Force in the Eastern Siberia

About in last twenty years, geography of population has been developed in the Soviet Union. At the biginning, it started from the geographical study of cities and then has extended to that of rural settlement, but it was backward to study the internal migration of population relating the location of production till the most recent period.In last a few years, this subject began to be taken up and the study on the migration of population which is connected with Siberian exploitation was published by a few writers. On the basis of these treatises and other materials, this report considered the migration of population and the problems between labor force and production in the Eastern Siberia.As a result of the lack of labor caused by economic development in Siberia, many people has flowed into this region from western parts of the Soviet Union. But at the same time, we observed the tendency that population has been flowing out of eastern parts (espesially in Siberia) to western parts in the Soviet Union. This is brought about by severe natural conditions (paticularly climate condition) and the low standard of living in Eastern parts in comparison with that of westernparts in the Soviet Union. Consequently, labor is not settled in this region and the Eastern Siberia is worried about remarkable migration of population in spite of the lack of labor force.On the other haud, in the European Russia, the Caucasia and the Central Asia of the Soviet Union, there are surplus labor forces in the branch of agriculture and middle and small cities. In addition, in the Eastern Siberia we can recognize the insufficient use of labor force, especially women labors.From such a situation, in the U.S.S.R. paticular attention should be focused on the distributive plan of labor force viewed from all over the country in order to plan further economic development, though there is no doubt to consider material incentives to induce migration of population. At the same time, in the Eastern Siberia which has areas with very different natural and socio-economical conditions, they need to make the distributive plan of population considerring the differences between various areas. But now these considerations seem to be still insufficient.Generally, in the present Soviet Union geografy of population is defined as special branch of economic geography and then as special branch whichi sdifferent from other branches of economic geography, since it includes “non productive branches which belong to the consumer's side of social production process” (Pokshishevskii). From such a point, there is an opinion to make population geography independent from economic geography and divide geography into three branches: physical, economic and population geography. So, after this, the geographical studies on the migration of population and the distribution of population appears to be given with their studies from more broad scope than ever.