The Social Dynamics of Labor Market Inclusion

The Social Dynamics of Labor Market Inclusion
Author: Lena Strindlund
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2020-11-16
Genre:
ISBN: 9179297900

Labor market inclusion is a complex assignment that takes place through a dynamic interaction between unemployed individuals from vulnerable groups, several authority actors and employers. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the social dynamics of labor market inclusion, with a particular focus on integration, from the perspectives of employers and authority actors. Three empirical studies have been conducted focusing on different perspectives and integration challenges, using various forms of qualitative methods and theoretical approaches. Study I was a qualitative phenomenographic interview study of employers’ perspectives on labor market inclusion and intersectoral integration. The study showed that employers’ views are multifaceted and can be categorized as constrained, independent, and conditional, and can be understood through a complex internal relationship between conceived individual-, workplace- and authority-related aspects in relation to the themes of trust, contribution, and support (paper I). Study II was a two-year longitudinal case study of an interorganizational integration project, focusing on the authority actors’ perspectives. Through ethnographic fieldwork and a practice-theory approach, two divergent rationalities (an empowerment rationality and a coordinating rationality) were identified within the project organization, and four central concepts were highlighted – communication, trust, structure, and steering – contributing to a collapse in integration (paper II). The dysfunctional group processes were further analyzed with the theory of negative effects of social capital and shadow organizing, summarized as three social dynamics: insulation, homogenization, and escalating commitment (paper III). Study III was a one-year longitudinal case study of a municipal intraorganizational integration project focusing on the perspectives of both authority actors and municipal employers. This study combined ethnographic field work with the theory of social representations, which visualized three different representations among the different professional groups – individual-, employer-, and political-oriented – which contributed to creating tensions within the project, identified as incomprehension, power struggles, expectation gaps, and distrust (paper IV). By studying two labor market inclusion projects through shadow organizing, the thesis has revealed a complex and dynamic interplay between the various views of the actors involved, as well as social processes within the project organizations and organizational aspects, referred to as social dynamics. These social dynamics constitute the key concepts in this thesis, contributing understanding about how integration and organization work within labor market inclusion projects, or rather, what makes them fail. Three social dynamics were identified: multiple and conflicting views, grouping processes, and power struggles. Greater knowledge and awareness of these complex and social dynamics of labor market inclusion may contribute to better preparedness when organizing integration projects. The results suggest that by identifying and addressing the multiple views characterizing integration projects and not letting incomprehension dominate, the destructive social dynamics may not be given as much space, or may even be avoided, which may stimulate a willingness to integrate rather than the opposite.

The Global Informal Workforce

The Global Informal Workforce
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2021-07-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513575910

The Global Informal Workforce is a fresh look at the informal economy around the world and its impact on the macroeconomy. The book covers interactions between the informal economy, labor and product markets, gender equality, fiscal institutions and outcomes, social protection, and financial inclusion. Informality is a widespread and persistent phenomenon that affects how fast economies can grow, develop, and provide decent economic opportunities for their populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped to uncover the vulnerabilities of the informal workforce.

Moving for Prosperity

Moving for Prosperity
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2018-06-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464812829

Migration presents a stark policy dilemma. Research repeatedly confirms that migrants, their families back home, and the countries that welcome them experience large economic and social gains. Easing immigration restrictions is one of the most effective tools for ending poverty and sharing prosperity across the globe. Yet, we see widespread opposition in destination countries, where migrants are depicted as the primary cause of many of their economic problems, from high unemployment to declining social services. Moving for Prosperity: Global Migration and Labor Markets addresses this dilemma. In addition to providing comprehensive data and empirical analysis of migration patterns and their impact, the report argues for a series of policies that work with, rather than against, labor market forces. Policy makers should aim to ease short-run dislocations and adjustment costs so that the substantial long-term benefits are shared more evenly. Only then can we avoid draconian migration restrictions that will hurt everybody. Moving for Prosperity aims to inform and stimulate policy debate, facilitate further research, and identify prominent knowledge gaps. It demonstrates why existing income gaps, demographic differences, and rapidly declining transportation costs mean that global mobility will continue to be a key feature of our lives for generations to come. Its audience includes anyone interested in one of the most controversial policy debates of our time.

Divergent Paths

Divergent Paths
Author: Annette Bernhardt
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2001-06-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1610440498

The promise of upward mobility—the notion that everyone has the chance to get ahead—is one of this country's most cherished ideals, a hallmark of the American Dream. But in today's volatile labor market, the tradition of upward mobility for all may be a thing of the past. In a competitive world of deregulated markets and demanding shareholders, many firms that once offered the opportunity for advancement to workers have remade themselves as leaner enterprises with more flexible work forces. Divergent Paths examines the prospects for upward mobility of workers in this changed economic landscape. Based on an innovative comparison of the fortunes of two generations of young, white men over the course of their careers, Divergent Paths documents the divide between the upwardly mobile and the growing numbers of workers caught in the low-wage trap. The first generation entered the labor market in the late 1960s, a time of prosperity and stability in the U.S. labor market, while the second generation started work in the early 1980s, just as the new labor market was being born amid recession, deregulation, and the weakening of organized labor. Tracking both sets of workers over time, the authors show that the new labor market is more volatile and less forgiving than the labor market of the 1960s and 1970s. Jobs are less stable, and the penalties for failing to find a steady employer are more severe for most workers. At the top of the job pyramid, the new nomads—highly credentialed, well-connected workers—regard each short-term project as a springboard to a better-paying position, while at the bottom, a growing number of retail workers, data entry clerks, and telemarketers, are consigned to a succession of low-paying, dead-end jobs. While many commentators dismiss public anxieties about job insecurity as overblown, Divergent Paths carefully documents hidden trends in today's job market which confirm many of the public's fears. Despite the celebrated job market of recent years, the authors show that the old labor market of the 1960s and 1970s propelled more workers up the earnings ladder than does today's labor market. Divergent Paths concludes with a discussion of policy strategies, such as regional partnerships linking corporate, union, government, and community resources, which may help repair the career paths that once made upward mobility a realistic ambition for all American workers.

The Sociology of Work

The Sociology of Work
Author: Theodore Caplow
Publisher: Minnesota Archive Editions
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1954-04-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780816659999

The Sociology of Work was first published in 1954. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. What are the effects of working conditions, rewards, and habits upon the institution of the family? What are the typical forms of occupational segregation, and what are the effects of such segregation upon the general society? How are the social roles appropriate to each occupation created and sustained? What social processes determine the evolution of occupational groupings and the distribution of population among them? This work, a basic study in occupational sociology, throws light on such questions as these. Professor Caplow describes the occupational system with reference to specialization, occupational status, the formation of professions, mobility, the patterning of individual careers, the occupations of women, and the prospects for continued improvement of working conditions. He draws upon hundreds of empirical studies for his discussions. The book has been warmly received by reviewers and readers. Robert Dublin commented in the American Journal of Sociology: "This volume will long stand as a sourcebook of hypotheses and thesis topics for students of industrial sociology." Writing in the American Sociological Review, George Caspar Homans called it "a wide-ranging and hard-headed study of American jobs, their place and nature." Robert C. Stone said in Social Forces: "The work is a major contribution to the study of social structure." The many specialist workers who are concerned with occupational problems--industrial and applied psychologists, personnel and guidance workers, wage economists, labor relations experts, and others--will find this a valuable reference work. It is, of course, pertinent to the interests of general sociologists and anthropologists, and is used as a text in a number of courses in occupational sociology.

Social Inclusion and Economic Development in Latin America

Social Inclusion and Economic Development in Latin America
Author: Mayra Buvinić
Publisher: IDB
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2004
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1931003653

Poverty and inequality in Latin America are easily recognizable in the faces of women, Afro-descendents, the indigenous, people with disabilities, victims of HIV/AIDS, and other groups outside the societal mainstream. Social Inclusion and Economic Development in Latin America reviews the common features of these excluded populations, including their invisibility in official statistics and the stigma, discrimination, and disadvantages they have long endured. But it also examines the region's inclusionary policies and programs that can improve access by these groups to the quality social services and economic and political resources these groups need to level the playing field. Case studies examine ethnic and racial political organization, gender quotas, and labor markets across the region, and social exclusion in Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. Comparative studies summarize social inclusion policies of both the European Union and selected countries on the Continent.

Women in Labour Markets

Women in Labour Markets
Author: Sara Elder
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789221233183

Offers an analysis of 12 indicators from the ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market database. The aim is to look for progress or lack of progress towards the goal of gender equality in the world of work and identify where and why blockages to labour market equity continue to exist. Focuses on the relationship of women to labour markets and compares employment outcomes for men and women to the best degree possible given the available labour market indicators.

The Dynamics of Full Employment

The Dynamics of Full Employment
Author: G_nther Schmid
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781843765400

Persistent unemployment is recognized as one of the main mechanisms of social and political exclusion. The Dynamics of Full Employment provides a new and fresh approach to the question of full employment in contemporary society. It offers an international

The Latin American challenge

The Latin American challenge
Author: Bernardo Sorj
Publisher: SciELO - Centro Edelstein
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2008-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 8579820812

Based on the work of twenty renowned experts from the region, this ground-breaking book traces the new face of Latin America using clear, straightfoward language that is accessible to a general audience. The current panorama in the region creates new opportunities and dangers for social cohesion in democracy and a revitalized critical approach is needed to arrive at a global interpretation of the social dynamics in Latin America.

Cosmopolitan Business Ethics

Cosmopolitan Business Ethics
Author: Jacob Dahl Rendtorff
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2017-08-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317159128

In Cosmopolitan Business Ethics: Towards a Global Ethos of Management, Jacob Dahl Rendtorff maps the concept of global business ethics, related to sustainability and corporate governance, via an examination of the major theories of business ethics and the philosophy of management. The book is based on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and the European tradition, which is applied as the foundation for the analysis of the contemporary European and Anglo-American debate on business ethics in order to formulate an up-to-date theory of global business ethics. The book will compare the different schools of business ethics, corporate citizenship, and the philosophy of management and will address the modern-day issues of sustainability, business and human rights, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder management, and corporate governance, offering insights on how to deal with these international challenges of global economics, the development and protection of human rights, and the environment. This book proposes a decision-making model for cosmopolitan business ethics as the foundation of management and leadership in dealing with the complexities of globalization. The case studies will address the efforts of businesses to work with global and cosmopolitan business ethics at the levels of maintaining corporate integrity. Both the theoretical argument and case studies presented in the book are based on exchanges with notable business ethicists, philosophers of management, business managers, and public policy-makers.