Flexible Labour Markets, Workers' Protection and Active Labour Market Policies in the Caribbean

Flexible Labour Markets, Workers' Protection and Active Labour Market Policies in the Caribbean
Author: Andrew S. Downes
Publisher: United Nations Publications
Total Pages: 43
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789211217063

This study examines the application of the flexicurity labour system in the Caribbean countries of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The flexicurity system has its origins in Denmark and combines elements of labour market flexibility with social security for workers. After outlining the elements of the system, The study provides an overview of the labour market in the Caribbean and compares the performance of Denmark with the three Caribbean countries. While that flexicurity system has some attractive features its full implementation is limited in the Caribbean since the institutional framework has not been fully developed to sustain the implementation of the system And The costs of the system can be a burden to national governments. it is however possible those elements of the system can be applied To The Caribbean countries (and have been applied). Labour market reform in the region can however take elements of the system into consideration.

What Works

What Works
Author: International Labor Office
Publisher: International Labor Office
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2016-02-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789221303794

Latin America and the Caribbean have achieved significant economic, labor market, and social progress in recent decades. However, progress has begun to slow on a number of fronts that will challenge the ability of policy-makers to sustain these gains. In this context, active labor market policies (ALMPs) can play a central role by improving workers’ employability, contributing--directly or indirectly--to productive employment creation. A number of Latin American countries have embraced this policy shift and, as a result, there has been a marked increase in public expenditures on ALMPs in the past two decades. This new report, part of the Studies on Growth with Equity series, examines the effectiveness of ALMPs implemented in Latin America. After reviewing the main labor market and social trends in the region, the report presents a new comprehensive compendium of ALMPs implemented in selected Latin American countries during the last twenty years. It also discusses the results of a systematic review of existing evidence on ALMPs in the region and provides new findings on what works in this area, notably an assessment of policies carried out in Argentina, Colombia, and Peru.

Economic Reforms, Growth and Employment

Economic Reforms, Growth and Employment
Author: Jürgen Weller
Publisher: United Nations Publications
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2001
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

In the last ten to fifteen years, profound structural reforms have moved Latin America and the Caribbean from closed, state-dominated economies to ones that are more market-oriented and open. Policymakers expected that these changes would speed up growth. This book is part of a multi-year project to determine whether these expectation have been fulfilled. Analysing the impact of the reforms on employment it is argued that expectations were not fulfilled with respect to the operation of the labour markets. The reforms limited the expansion of employment in some sectors, particularly in tradeable goods. They also created a bias in labour demad for better educated workers which exacerbates inequality. It is thus made clear that the region faces major challenges both in increasing the number of jobs and improving job equality.

Law and Employment

Law and Employment
Author: James J. Heckman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 585
Release: 2007-11-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0226322858

Law and Employment analyzes the effects of regulation and deregulation on Latin American labor markets and presents empirically grounded studies of the costs of regulation. Numerous labor regulations that were introduced or reformed in Latin America in the past thirty years have had important economic consequences. Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman and Carmen Pagés document the behavior of firms attempting to stay in business and be competitive while facing the high costs of complying with these labor laws. They challenge the prevailing view that labor market regulations affect only the distribution of labor incomes and have little or no impact on efficiency or the performance of labor markets. Using new micro-evidence, this volume shows that labor regulations reduce labor market turnover rates and flexibility, promote inequality, and discriminate against marginal workers. Along with in-depth studies of Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica, and Trinidad, Law and Employment provides comparative analysis of Latin American economies against a range of European countries and the United States. The book breaks new ground by quantifying not only the cost of regulation in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in the OECD, but also the broader impact of this regulation.

Labor Market Issues in the Caribbean

Labor Market Issues in the Caribbean
Author: Ms.Magda E. Kandil
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498347738

The paper examines the determinants of employment growth, drawing on data available across a sample of Caribbean countries. To that end, the paper analyzes estimates of the employment-output elasticity and the response of employment growth to major sources of labor market determinants, in the long and short run. The main determinants of employment include government investment and private sector credit, while the major determinants of external performance are real effective exchange rate, the price of major exporting commodities, the number of tourists, and growth in major trading partners. The paper concludes with a menu of policy recommendations and structural reforms towards sustaining high employment growth and higher living standards in the Caribbean.

Regulation, Worker Protection and Active Labour-market Policies in Latin America

Regulation, Worker Protection and Active Labour-market Policies in Latin America
Author: United Nations. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Publisher: UN
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Job creation
ISBN: 9789211217179

The book presents the findings of a project on Latin American experiences that entailed assessing the pillars of labour institutions in Latin America. This publication reflects upon improvements of the labour market within several Latin American countries, including progress and challenges, labour flexibility and worker security, potential strengths and weaknesses, and culminates with theories of how certain aspects of the Danish flexicurity model can be applied to construct cohesive economies in the Latin American region.

From Right to Reality

From Right to Reality
Author: Helena Ribe
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 455
Release: 2012-03-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0821389068

This study highlights the interaction between social protection (SP) programs and labor markets in the Latin America region. It presents new evidence on the limited coverage of existing programs and emphasizes the challenges caused by high informality for achieving universal social protection for old age income, health, unemployment risks and anti-poverty safety nets. It identifies interaction effects between SP programs and the behavioral responses of workers, firms and social protection providers, which can further undermine efforts to expand coverage, summarizing evidence from recent work across the region. The book argues for a re-design of financing to eliminate cross subsidies between members of contributory programs and subsidies that effectively tax income from formal employment. It advocates well-targeted, tax-funded, tapered subsidies to provide incentives to the savings efforts of low-income workers, coupled with an effective safety net for the extreme poor who have no capacity to contribute to financing their own social protection arrangements. It also argues for the consolidation of programs and harmonization of benefits packages across different insurers. The book develops an overall conceptual framework and presents in-depth analysis of the main SP sectors of pensions, health, unemployment insurance and labor market programs, and safety net transfers.

What Works

What Works
Author: ILO.
Publisher:
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2016
Genre: Labor policy
ISBN: 9789221303800

This report, part of the Studies on Growth with Equity series, examines the effectiveness of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) implemented in Latin America, notably policies carried out in Argentina, Colombia and Peru.

Job Creation in Latin America and the Caribbean

Job Creation in Latin America and the Caribbean
Author: Carmen Pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 486
Release: 2009-06-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Throughout the Latin American and Caribbean region, unemployment and job creation have become central issues in public debates and governement policy. This book provides a thorough examination of the labour market trends over the past decades and assesses the role that labour demand and labor supply factors have played in shaping these outcomes.