Search

This paper focuses on the changing relationship between attitudes towards European Union (EU) membership and workers affected by globalization and technological advances in the lead-up to the UK's EU referendum in 2016. It is found that workers employed in middling occupations, where both relative wages and employment have fallen, were significantly more likely than workers in high-paying occupations to indicate that the UK's long-term policy should be to leave the EU. This view was particularly noticeable amongst males with middling occupations in the post-recessionary period between 2012 and 2015 and had increased significantly relative to the mainly prerecessionary period between 2004 and 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the post-application employment consequences for individuals registering complaints to Employment Tribunals following dismissal or redundancy. We consider several pieces of evidence: (a) the probability of finding another job, (b) the time taken to get a new job and (c) the pay/status of the new job. Our results indicate that age plays a significant role in aspects (a) and (c), while those who previously held managerial positions generally took longest to get a new job and found it most difficult to achieve a similar level of pay/status in their current jobs. Long-term health problems/disability is associated with significantly worse outcomes on all three measures. Respondents whose cases were dismissed by tribunals without hearings fared worst in terms of obtaining a new job and the time it took to do so. There are, however, fewer differences by tribunal outcome in the relative pay/status of the claimant's current job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom was one of only three countries to allow migrants from accession countries to enter their labour markets more or less without restriction following European Union enlargement in May 2004. Therefore, it is important to establish the characteristics and labour market performance of migrants from these countries who have subsequently entered the United Kingdom. We principally analyse Labour Force Survey data to compare the labour market outcomes of recent migrants from Poland and other accession countries to those of earlier migrant cohorts from these countries as well as to those of other recent migrants to the United Kingdom. We find that the majority of post-enlargement migrants from the new member states have found employment in low paying jobs, despite some (especially Poles) possessing relatively high levels of education. It follows that recent Polish migrants typically have lower returns to their education than other recent arrivals. Migrants from the new member states who arrived immediately prior to enlargement have similar characteristics and labour market outcomes, apart from displaying a higher propensity to be self-employed. These results are discussed in the context of policy changes, migration strategies, assimilation effects and possible impacts on the sending countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overseas remittances are a vital source of income for many developing economies. In this paper we empirically model the remittance behaviour of a diverse set of ethnic minority households in England and Wales using survey data. Our results indicate that the probability of remitting is higher for richer households and for those containing more immigrants. Measures of social distance also appear to influence the sending of remittances. Significant ethnic differences in the incidence of remitting and the timing of payments remain after controlling for these and other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit the influential work of Borjas (1995) on the economic gain to the host population from immigration—“the immigration surplus.” We develop his analysis by using a general equilibrium endogenous growth model with endogenous capital and several sectors, including an R&D sector driving growth. Skilled immigration leads to a bigger R&D sector share resulting in higher long-term growth. If skilled labor and physical capital are complements, this growth gain increases. Growth effects on the immigration surplus dominate the purely static effects of Borjas, but are not sufficient to eliminate the emergence of losers (skilled natives) within the host population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of strikes reported in British industry has been on a downward trend over the past two decades, falling in 1998 to its lowest level since records began. This may indicate that relations within British industry have improved; however, the same period has also witnessed a sharp increase in the number of individual ACAS and employment tribunal cases. We discuss possible reasons for the changes in the patterns of industrial unrest over time and use individual micro-data to examine whether the observed decline in strike activity has actually been associated with an improvement in perceptions of workplace industrial relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals from ethnic minorities have a greater tendency to stay on in full-time education beyond the compulsory age. There are, however, wide variations between groups, and the paper explores the role for human capital considerations such as earnings and increased employability in this choice. Economic considerations and socioeconomic background are found to be important, but there is evidence for a separate ethnicity effect influencing choice. The method used is to fit a joint leaving and employment equation for males and females aged 18-24 using combined micro data from the British Labour Force Survey and the Sample of Anonymized Records from the 1991 Census. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on self-employment, which according to the author is an important economic experience of Great Britain's ethnic minorities. Since the 1970's the self-employment sector in Britain has increased in size and has been targeted by successive governments as a sector of the economy of considerable strategic importance. For ethnic minorities, self-employment is particularly significant, offering an alternative to the discrimination faced by minority workers in paid-employment. An over-representation of ethnic minorities in self-employment can be seen as a rational response to labor market conditions. The factors which influence whether individuals from a particular ethnic group choose entrepreneurship over paid-employment, therefore, have implications for the design and evaluation of policies which seek to ensure the fair treatment of workers from different ethnic backgrounds. An increasing proportion of the labor force in self-employment has been a feature of many developed economies since the 1970s. Growth in Great Britain has been particularly strong with self-employment rising three times as fast as the European Community average.

Focuses on an exploration of male and female unemployment differences of ethnic minorities across Great Britain, using data from the 1991 Census of Population. Details on the sample size; Discrepancies evidenced between male and female unemployment; Comparison of British born minorities with those who were born elsewhere.