Labor Market Adjustments to Structural Change and Technological Progress

Labor Market Adjustments to Structural Change and Technological Progress
Author: Eileen R. Appelbaum
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 272
Release: 1990-10-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

This volume brings together an international group of contributors to explore the impacts of structural economic change and technological progress on labor markets. The contributors goal is to present an in-depth comparative study of the ways in which different national economies have adjusted to structural changes like the shift to service-based economies and technological changes brought about by the increasing use of the computer in offices and on the production line. Examining the adjustment process from both a micro and macro perspective, the contributors analyze the flexibility potentials within the different institutional organizations of the labor market in the U.S., France, West Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden. The study begins with a comprehensive introduction written by the editors which discusses the problem of structural and technological change in economic, social, and political terms. Two subsequent chapters address the economic structures of post-industrial society and the differential characteristics of employment growth in service industries. The contributors then present individual analyses of the labor market situation in the five countries under study as well as two general studies of institutions regulating the labor market and flexibility within the labor market. Throughout, the contributors are concerned with key issues such as which systems seem to adapt best, how skill and educational needs may be met in the changing labor market, and the importance of flexibility in a system characterized by ongoing structural and technological change. Ideal as supplementary reading for advanced courses in labor economics and industrial organization, this volume offers important new insights into labor market flexibility in the face of significant and continuing change.

The Labor Market and Economic Adjustment

The Labor Market and Economic Adjustment
Author: Pierre-Richard Agénor
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 98
Release: 1995-11-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451854781

This paper examines the role of the labor market in the transmission process of adjustment policies in developing countries. It begins by reviewing the recent evidence regarding the functioning of these markets. It then studies the implications of wage inertia, nominal contracts, labor market segmentation, and impediments to labor mobility for stabilization policies. The effect of labor market reforms on economic flexibility and the channels through which labor market imperfections alter the effects of structural adjustment measures are discussed next. The last part of the paper identifies a variety of issues that may require further investigation, such as the link between changes in relative wages and the distributional effects of adjustment policies.

Work and Change

Work and Change
Author: Committee for Economic Development. Research and Policy Committee
Publisher:
Total Pages: 94
Release: 1987
Genre: Competition, International
ISBN:

The net effect on employment of structural changes now occurring in the United States will be determined by the actions that government, management, and labor take to create and support the conditions for new opportunity and to encourage people to move from old to new work. Many of the measures that need to be taken to ensure profitability involve changes in the type of work done and the number of people employed. Labor adjustment policies have to be factored into any decision taken by management to improve competitive position. The six crucial elements around which adjustment policies in the private sector should be structured are: (1) communication between management and labor regarding competitive realities, steps needed to improve market position, and rewards employees can expect; (2) employee involvement at the work level in the design and implementation of productivity improvements; (3) flexible total compensation that links wages and benefits to profitability; (4) advance notification to employees, unions, and the community of decisions affecting jobs; (5) reorientation of employee benefits so that employees moving between firms do not lose them; and (6) support programs that allow workers to shift to new opportunities. The critical elements around which public sector adjustment policies should be structured are incentives to reemployment, coordination of public and private resources, commitment to job training programs, promotion of economic development strategies, and educational reform to emphasize the skills and attitudes needed to prepare students for higher-skilled, technology-based jobs. (The document contains 164 references.) (CML)

Trade, Investment, Migration and Labour Market Adjustment

Trade, Investment, Migration and Labour Market Adjustment
Author: D. Greenaway
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2002-09-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1403920184

Globalization and the growing integration of national markets have had profound effects on the operation of markets, not least labour markets. In this book, a range of leading commentators on globalization and labour markets present original contribution on the interaction between these two areas. This book assesses the impact of globalization on trade, cross-border investment and migration from both a theoretical and econometric standpoint and discusses the possible applications of this analysis for both industrialized and developing countries.

Structural Change and Labor Market Flexibility

Structural Change and Labor Market Flexibility
Author: Mohr Siebeck (Tybinga).
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1997
Genre: Economics
ISBN: 9783161468339

The economies of many advanced countries are currently going through a period of structural adjustment caused mainly by the globalization of production and technological change. Already, economists are beginning to analyze the impact of this new state of affairs upon labor markets. In this volume, Horst Siebert brings together twelve experts from around the world to examine these sectoral structural changes at various levels of aggregation -- among them, the way that age and gender relate to the overall composition of the labor force, the development of different occupations within industries, and the reasons for the varying experiential and educational backgrounds of the workforce. Conducted for both major industrial countries such as the United States and Japan and for the smaller open economies of Denmark and the Netherlands, for instance, these analyses will be of interest to international economists on a broad scale.