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• Platform workers face greater economic insecurity relative to all other occupation groups, and a rate of economic insecurity that is not significantly different from that of unemployed adults. • Higher levels of economic insecurity amongst platform workers are not primarily channelled through lower incomes. • Higher rates of insecurity amongst platform workers are largely shaped by other dimensions of precarity associated with platform work, such as poor job quality. Using representative survey data from Italy, this study investigates the levels and sources of economic security amongst platform workers relative to other labour force participants. Platform workers face greater economic insecurity relative to all other occupation groups, and a rate of economic insecurity that is not significantly different from that of unemployed adults. Higher levels of insecurity are not primarily channelled through lower incomes; instead, higher rates of insecurity persist when accounting for family incomes, suggesting that other dimensions of precarity associated with platform work matter as much as income differences in shaping economic insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Networks influence hiring of low reputation firms, not of high reputation firms. • Data on all mobile workers is used for within-employer comparison of network effect on hiring. • Low reputation firms use networks to enlarge the search pool and gather worker information. • High reputation firms have a large search pool and collect information through scouting. • Differences in network hiring are thus contingent on the costs of directly observing workers. Despite a vast literature examining networks in labor markets, it remains unclear how employers differ in their use of networks during recruitment. This study examines network hiring among high and low reputation organizations in Dutch professional football. Within-employer within-transfer window fixed effects conditional logistic regression models demonstrate that networks increase the likelihood that low reputation employers hire workers, but no network effect was found among high reputation employers. Qualitative interviews with employees suggest that low reputation employers identify their search pool and gather hard-to-observe information about potential hires through networks, while high reputation employers do not rely on networks for their search pool and gather information through observing workers for prolonged periods of time [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 18th century, when industrial production began, the use of steam and mechanized production caused serious changes in the economy. As a result, production costs have decreased alongside increase in product quantity and product quality. In this period, production has undergone a revolutionary transformation from manual labour to mechanization. In the following decades, the mass production with the help of electricity have resulted with the Industry 2.0 Era, and then, the emergence of digital revolution, the use of electronics and the use of information technologies in the production processes has triggered the Industry 3.0 Era. Today, the internet of objects, the industrial networks, the cyber-physical systems and the incorporation of robotic technologies into the production has brought the Industry 4.0 Age into the stage. Industry 4.0 has created a new production model where robots are effectively used in production, this new production model has begun to change the daily life, production and working relations as deeply as the first industrial revolution. However, the potential impacts of Industry 4.0 over the labour markets still remains as an understudied scholarly area. It is being evaluated that Industry 4.0 will lead to technological unemployment via changing the structure of employment and bring new structural problems in terms of unemployment and labour relations. Likewise, it is expected that automation and robotic production will deeply affect the unskilled labour force, and will cause a critical decrease in the workforce of vulnerable sections of society, i.e., women, migrants, youth and elderly. This study evaluates the probable effects of the 4th Industrial Revolution over the labour markets. Via the literature review and analysis of the emerging trends with Industry 4.0, the risks, opportunities and challenges of the process is being investigated within a comparative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We quantify the impact of droughts on labor market outcomes in 78 large Latin American urban areas. • Large droughts decrease the general level of employment (∼1%), the number of hours worked (∼4.5%) and labor incomes (∼6.5%). • Informal workers are the most affected by droughts. • The impact of drought is significantly larger than the impact of comparable large wet shocks ("floods"). • Power outages and a deterioration of health are two mechanisms which explain our results. Abstract While the harmful impact of droughts is well-documented in rural areas, how droughts affect cities' economies remains an open question. Using monthly labour force surveys from 78 cities in Latin America, we demonstrate that large sustained dry events decrease the probability of being employed, hourly wages, hours worked, and labour incomes. Informal workers are impacted the most. We highlight that the impact of droughts is larger than the impact of wet events, like those that cause floods. Health and power outages are two pathways explaining our results. Climate change will increase the occurrence of droughts, making our findings particularly relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the economic and sociological literature focuses on the role of social origin background on class, or wage outcomes. Yet, two individuals may have similar wages, but very different market incomes, so that the role of social origin may differ between these two individuals. This paper aims to explore the social origin associations – net of individual occupation – on two types of monetary outcomes: standard annual salaries and market income. The study compares Spain and Germany to analyse variations in social origin associations within their distinct labour market structures and institutional frameworks. Using unconditional quantile regressions, the findings reveal that Spain exhibits a significant "residual effect of social origins" on both wage and market income. Spain also demonstrates significant class-ceiling effects, signalling barriers to upward mobility. Conversely, Germany shows a limited residual origin correlation and no significant class barriers, aligning well with the human capital theory. Additionally, Spain experiences a significant increase in inequality between 2002 and 2017, primarily attributed to changes in the characteristics of the labour market structure. On the other hand, Germany is again found to be a more mobile country with no significant dynamic changes in inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The existing literature on the health trajectories of the UK immigrants has mainly focussed on the relationship between ethnicity and health. There is little information on the role of immigration status and no previous information on the role of reason for immigration to the country. This study fills this gap in the literature by analysing the heterogeneity of immigrant-native differences in health by reason for immigration. Study design Analysis of cross-sectional quarterly data from the UK Labour Force Survey covering the period of 2010 (quarter 1) to 2017 (quarter 2). The sample includes 345,086 observations. The dependent variables of interest include suffering from a long-lasting condition, the link between long-lasting conditions and labour market performance and the prevalence of 12 specific health conditions. Methods Data were analysed using linear probability models to adjust for differences in age, education, gender, ethnicity, local authority of residence and year of survey. The analysis also explores the role of length of stay in the UK and the percentage of current lifetime spent in the UK (duration in the UK/age). Results Results indicate that, in general, immigrants are less likely than natives to report suffering from a long-lasting (1 year or more) health problem. This pattern generally remains the same when we consider the specificity of the long-lasting health problem. However, there are key differences across the immigrant groups by reason for immigration. Those who migrated for employment, family and study reasons report better health outcomes than natives, while those who migrated to seek asylum report worse health outcomes than natives. There is convergence to natives' health outcomes over time for those who migrated for non-asylum reasons, but not for those who migrated to seek asylum. Conclusions The findings show that the prevalence of health problems differs not only between natives and immigrants but also across groups of immigrants who moved to the UK for different reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greening employment is required to avoid multiple ecological crises but so far there exist different notions of what makes a job ecologically sustainable. The article portrays five theoretical perspectives and develops a framework to evaluate the environmental impact of employment in four dimensions: (1) output type: sustainable goods and services as the outputs from work, (2) occupation: green tasks and activities at the workplace, (3) work-lifestyles: working conditions that promote workers' sustainable lifestyles, (4) outcome efficiency: resource-light production processes. It discusses previous approaches in each dimension and proposes improved assessment methods. By connecting the four dimensions, it develops a "Taxonomy of Sustainable Employment" to classify employment into green, mixed and brown jobs. The taxonomy can be applied to evaluate the sustainability of employment and identify effective labour market policies for a just transition. • Labour market policies are crucial leverages for sustainability transitions. • Five perspectives on "jobs & the environment" can be distinguished. • Previous approaches to identify green jobs neglected essential aspects that determine the sustainability of employment. • The performance in four different dimensions affects the greenness and brownness of employment. • The 'Taxonomy of Sustainable Employment' facilitates classification into 'green jobs', 'mixed jobs', and 'brown jobs'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In Thailand, the advanced technology tends to affect the reallocation of workers between skilled and unskilled positions. • The results vary among workers' industrial destinations and proxies of technology. • Skill upgrading is likely to occur more when workers stay or move within manufacturing sectors. • Our results highlight a diminished negative impact resulting from imports, particularly those of capital and final goods. • Workers' income is likely to be lower in response to technology progress and imports. This paper examines the impact of advanced technology and import penetration on changes in employment positions and income, as well as the possibility that workers become unemployed due to such technological progress. Two proxies of advanced technology are used, ICT and the intensity of robot usage. The analysis considers changes in employment status and income, together with workers' industrial adjustments in investigating the impact of technological advancements and imports, which are delineated into raw materials, capital goods and final products. The results show that in Thailand, the impact of advanced technology in pushing workers out of the job market is limited. Instead, it tends to affect the reallocation of workers between skilled and unskilled positions. The results vary among workers' industrial destinations and proxies of technology. Skill upgrading is likely to occur more when workers stay or move within manufacturing sectors, while ICT usage tends to generate more favourable outcomes than robot adoption. Workers in comparatively capital-intensive industries, including the automotive and plastics and rubber sectors, tend to receive greater benefits from technological growth. Our results highlight a diminished negative impact resulting from imports, particularly those of capital and final goods, in comparison to that of technological advancements. Technology adoption and imports are likely to lower workers' income regardless of their industrial destinations and proxies of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Regional development – including in the Arctic – relies heavily on in-migration, skills acquisition and international expertise. This paper is based on a qualitative study (Part of the fieldwork was undertaken with Dr. T. Fossland, University of Tromsø.) of highly skilled immigrants in Tromsø, Norway, undertaken while migrants attended the Global Future talent mobilisation programme. It builds on migrant narratives and observations, showing both women and men migrate for non-work reasons – often marriage or love. While previous studies focused on women as dependent migrants and described the ‘de-skilling’ of highly skilled migrants during migration, this study addresses the mechanisms which make entering labour markets a problem, prior to the deskilling, for men and women. Acknowledging that love migration is grounded in processes outside the labour market, and that migrants enter a specific local labour market, I employ a contextual perspective focused on gender and place. Theories on the transfer of skills are added to understand the processes of accessing and exclusion from skilled labour markets. The study finds gendered expectations and norms affect both women and men’s participation in labour markets. It shows how both the scale and structure of a local labour market are important in understanding exclusion processes and that going beyond language proficiency, localised knowledge and access to local non-migrant networks seem necessary to make skills relevant. These findings strengthen our understanding of migrants’ exclusion, and the spatial, social and cultural embeddedness of skills. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Network-based job search is especially likely to foster workplace segregation and limit status attainment when information flows through homophilous ties. This paper takes the perspective of information holders and examines how the use of strong versus weak ties – which tend to be homophilous and heterophilous, respectively – differs with characteristics of labour markets in which jobs are located. Using in-depth interviews with entry-level white collar workers I show that information holders with opportunities to mention specific jobs to specific people do so only 27% of the time. Because they hesitate to share information if they are uncertain the information is specifically sought, information flows more commonly to strong ties, whose career goals are more likely to be known. Information is more likely to be shared with weak ties if it concerns occupations for which one may be specifically credentialed, since receiving relevant training serves as signal of interest in such jobs. These finding suggest that the homophily of referrals and their inequality-generating effects may vary across occupations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article seeks to contribute to our understanding of the internationalization processes of business service sectors through an analysis of the 20 leading TNCs in the temporary staffing industry. While these TNCs broadly conform to a loosely coordinated decentralized or multinational organisational model, there is significant firm-to-firm, spatial and temporal variability in the internationalization strategies that they employ, deriving from both the breadth of the industry – i.e. the range of different staffing activities that it encompasses – and the inherently territorially-embedded nature of staffing industry activity. These complexities are exemplified through consideration, in turn, of the scope of staffing TNCs, their foreign direct investment strategies, levels of central coordination, and degrees of standardization. The analysis demonstrates that, due to the need to respond to markets, temporary staffing TNCs exhibit highly spatially and temporally variable internationalization strategies and there are considerable barriers to both the centralization of control and the standardization of business practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an explanation of the causes of the slowdown in growth in labour productivity in European economies in recent decades. In first instance, the weakness of domestic demand is what determines this slowdown in productivity. However, differences with the (mediocre) rates of growth of productivity between European countries are also related to the specific features of their respective labour markets because, in a context of weak domestic demand, there is a trade-off between employment and productivity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper seeks to determine the macro-economic impacts of changes in health care provision. The resource allocation issues have been explored in theory, by applying the Rybczynski theorem, and empirically, using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for the UK with a detailed health component. From the theory, changes in non-health outputs are shown to depend on factor-bias and scale effects, the net effects generally being indeterminate. From the applied model, a rise in the National Health Service (NHS) budget is shown to yield overall welfare gains, which fall by two-thirds assuming health care-specific factors. A nominally equivalent migration policy yields even higher welfare gains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Understanding the factors affecting off-farm labour decisions of census-farm operators has significant implications for rural development and farm income support policy. We examine the off-farm labour decisions of Canadian farm operators using micro-level data from the 2001 Census of Agriculture combined with community level data from the 2001 Census of Population. While confirming some of the findings of previous research with respect to the effects of human capital and farm characteristics on off-farm work participation, this study shows the differential impact of those variables for operators of smaller and larger holdings. Family, community and regional characteristics appear more relevant in determining the joint decision to work off-farm and operate a smaller holding, compared to the decision to work off-farm and operate a larger farm. Results suggest that, once other factors are accounted for, proximity to urban centres does not have a positive effect on the joint decisions to participate in off-farm work and to operate a holding. This joint decision, in fact, is more related to the dynamics of the local labour market. A major implication of these findings is that while urban centers might represent an engine of growth for overall rural income through employment opportunities for the non-farm workforce, the non-farm income of farm operators is more likely to be affected by policy initiatives that address directly the dynamics of labour markets in the community where the operator lives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is concerned with two questions: When and how does society at large (through State, intermediary organisations, labour unions, etc.) institute a set of supports to minimise schisms in the labour market?; How exactly do these schisms evolve in response to changing technical standards in industrial production and services many of which are increasingly globally regulated? This paper attempts to sketch some phenomenological features of urban employment in India to address these questions. First, it discusses dualism of the labour market to understand how the division of labour institutionalises certain rules for economy-wide use. Second, it contends that the State is torn between multiple goals and cannot be treated monolithically. Third, it explores how dualism within the labour market is affected by changing global technical standards and the newer forms of industrial relations that emerge. The argument is that for institutions to embrace both efficiency and equity a shared understanding of goals and procedural language is required between actors and a close attention to the everyday work process of organisations and individuals. Technical regulations and standards permeate industry in diverse ways and exacerbate existing tensions between varied State priorities and make more unclear the costs and context for distributing uncertainty and ensuring cooperation around issues such as training and insurance. The paper lists some salient features of the construction sector in Bangalore, India. Finally, it briefly discusses the relevance of this approach of dualism and institutionalisation in the face of technical standards for the Millennium Development Goals and Decent Work agendas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

According to local economic and political commentators, Manchester''s economy is booming. Employment is growing, investment is on the up, people are moving back into the city centre, and in 2002 the city hosted the largest multi-sporting event to be held in England since the 1948 Olympics. Local economic and political actors point to the wave of economic optimism that has accompanied the `entrepreneurial turn'' performed in the late 1980s by the city''s political institutions. As part of this, emphasis switched away from Manchester''s industrial past and to its possible post-industrial futures. The city council stopped talking defensively––about `defending jobs''––and begun to talk about `making things happen''. New-style political strategies focused on raising the profile of the city, through sustained marketing strategies aimed at selling Manchester as a flexible, twenty-first century consumer-orientated city, despite the loss of 90,000 jobs between 1991 and 1997 and the profound restructuring of the city''s economic base. As part of this contradictory process of politically talking up the economy while it has struggled to perform, this paper argues that the conditions have been created in which Manchester''s temporary staffing industry has been able to thrive. The first English city to regulate the earliest incarnation of temporary staffing agencies, employment bureaux, and hence with a long established `industry'' as such, this paper exams the newly re-energised Manchester temporary staffing industry, and sets out some of the ways in which it is restructuring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyses the barriers to work faced by long- and short-term unemployed people in remote rural labour markets. Applying a broad concept of ‘employability’ as an analytical framework, it considers the attributes and experiences of 190 job seekers (22% of the registered unemployed) in two contiguous travel-to-work areas (Wick and Sutherland) in the northern Highlands of Scotland. The labour demand side of employability is also considered through interviews with 17 employers. The paper identifies the specific job search and other employment problems faced by unemployed people living in isolated rural communities (labour supply); considers the perspective of employers (labour demand); and discusses potential policies to address the needs of unemployed individuals. Many job seekers were found to have gaps in generic and job-specific skills, whilst some (particularly males) were reluctant to pursue opportunities in non-traditional sectors of the economy. The importance of informal job search and recruitment networks (which may exclude the young and the long-term unemployed) and the lack of access to formal employment services in remote areas also potentially contributed to labour market disadvantage. Holistic and client-centred solutions are required to address the barriers faced by these rural job seekers, including adult basic education provision, flexible training focussing on skills and work experience with particular relevance to the new rural economy, and support services for job seekers in isolated areas. These supply-side policies should be combined with demand-side measures to stimulate endogenous and exogenous growth in isolated local economies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Investment in railways, and transport infrastructure in general, are often motivated because they are believed to improve peoples' accessibility to jobs. By linking together and increasing the size of labour markets, the matching between individuals and jobs is improved, and the productivity increases. Communities and municipalities lobby for investments that lead to higher accessibility and those that are successful often see inflows of people as a consequence. This paper looks at the entire Swedish railway network, at the level of service of each station and at the connectivity among stations during the morning peak hour, considering different time bands. Associations between job accessibility levels and socio-demographic features are explored and disclosed, looking at the longitudinal impacts of railway investments over 4 years (from 2011 to 2014) on annual wages. Estimating a fixed effects model, very small effects on wages have been found with the increase in the number of jobs around accessible rail stations. These preliminary results indicate that additional jobs along the rail network seem to have a marginal effect. The findings of this analysis, if communicated to planners, may assist them in assessing the effects of future railway measures to implement over the Swedish territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper measures the Quality of Employment (QoE) from a multidimensional perspective in nine Latin American countries. • The index includes three dimensions: income, job security and employment conditions. • Using the Alkire/Foster method, it constructs a synthetic indicator of the QoE that identifies the most vulnerable workers. • This paper highlights important differences between the QoE in different Latin American countries. • While Chile has the best results in the region, Paraguay has the worst, followed by Mexico, Bolivia and Peru. This paper proposes a methodology for measuring the quality of employment from a multidimensional and public policy perspective in Latin American developing countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay) using household and labour force survey data from 2015. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the QoE can be measured using a multidimensional methodology that can inform policy makers about the state of their labour markets in a way that complements traditional variables such as participation or unemployment rates, which are not always good indicators of labour market performance in developing countries with large informal sectors. Building on the framework of the capability approach as well as on previous work on multidimensional poverty, we use the Alkire/Foster (AF) method to construct a synthetic indicator of the quality of employment (QoE) at an individual level. We select three dimensions that must be considered as both instrumentally and intrinsically important to workers and the functions and capabilities generated by their employment situation: income, job security and employment conditions. Job security is then divided into two sub-dimensions (occupational status and job tenure), as is employment conditions (social security affiliation and excessive working hours). A threshold is then established within each dimension and sub-dimension to determine whether a person is deprived or not within each dimension, before establishing an overall cut-off line and calculating composite levels of deprivation. The results generated by this indicator are, first, highly relevant to policy makers as they allow for the precise identification of groups of vulnerable workers as well as of dimensions and indicators, which contribute to deprivation in the labour market. Second, they extend the debate about employment in developing countries to variables not commonly considered by the literature as being critical to the well-being of workers and their dependents, such as occupational status and job tenure. Third, this paper highlights important difference between Latin American countries, both in terms of the overall QoE Index result as well as its component dimensions. While Chile presents the best results in the region, Paraguay presents the worst, followed by Mexico, Bolivia and Peru. However, Chile, Peru, Columbia and Brazil, for example, have the biggest problem with job rotation. Finally, the paper highlights that low rates of unemployment are not necessarily related to low rates of deprivation in terms of the QoE. In fact, in some countries analysed (e.g. Mexico) the opposite is true. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]