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Low Unemployment (low + unemployment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting50%

Selected Abstracts

The end of the Ghent system as trade union recruitment machinery?

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 6 2009
Jens Lind
ABSTRACT During the past 15 years, membership rates in many unions have been declining in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Reasons for this decline may be similar to what has happened in other countries,occupational change and neoliberal ideology and policies,but in the three Ghent countries, changes in the unemployment insurance system may also have affected trade union membership losses. The major part of the decline has taken place in a period of low unemployment, which may have reduced the employee incentive to take unemployment insurance, but will increasing unemployment rates mean more trade union members? At least for the LO- and SAK-affiliated trade unions, it seems that trade union independent unemployment funds may be alternatives for workers who take unemployment insurance. [source]

MIND THE GAP: UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE NEW EU REGIONS

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 1 2008
Anna Maria Ferragina
Abstract The paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on regional unemployment during transition in Central and Eastern Europe. The focus is on optimal speed of transition (OST) models and on comparison of them with the neo-classical tradition. In the typical neo-classical models, spatial differences essentially arise as a consequence of supply side constraints and institutional rigidities. Slow-growth, high-unemployment regions are those with backward economic structures and constraints on factors mobility contribute to making differences persistent. However, such explanations leave the question unanswered of how unemployment differences arise in the first place. Economic transition provides an excellent testing ground to answer this question. Pre-figuring an empirical law, the OST literature finds that the high degree of labour turnover of high unemployment regions is associated with a high rate of industrial restructuring and, consequently, that low unemployment may be achieved by implementing transition more gradually. Moreover, international trade, foreign direct investment and various agglomeration factors help explain the success of capital cities compared to peripheral towns and rural areas in achieving low unemployment. The evidence of the empirical literature on supply side factors suggests that wage flexibility in Central and Eastern Europe is not lower than in other EU countries, while labour mobility seems to reinforce rather than change the spatial pattern of unemployment. [source]

Is the health of young unemployed Australians worse in times of low unemployment?

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 1 2009
Justin Newton Scanlan
Abstract Objective: To compare the health of young unemployed Australians during a period of low unemployment (April 2007: rate 4.4%) against published Australian norms for 18,24 year olds and unemployed people during a time of higher unemployment (February 1995 to January 1996: rate 8.1% to 8.9%). Methods: Two hundred and fifty-one unemployed 18,25 year olds residing in New South Wales completed the SF36 Health Survey version 2 (SF36v2) during a time of low unemployment. SF36v2 subscale and component summary scores were compared with published norms for 18,24 year olds and for unemployed persons during a time of higher unemployment. Results: Young unemployed people during a period of low unemployment reported poorer health in all areas when compared with age-matched norms and poorer psychological health when compared with the published norms for unemployed people from a time when unemployment rates were higher. Conclusions: The health of young unemployed individuals during a time of low unemployment was poor when compared to both the general population and to unemployed people during a time of higher unemployment. Implications: Public health interventions must focus on improving the health of young unemployed people to support their engagement with and contribution to Australian society. [source]