Labor markets in an era of adjustment : an overview


Book Description

This overview of a symposium on labor markets and adjustment concludes that: (1) real wages are more flexible than generally supposed, (2) labor reallocations across sectors have been more or less in the desired direction, and (3) the role of labor unions, generally supposed to be an impediment to adjustment, is more subtle than generally supposed.




Labor Markets in an Era of Adjustment: Issues papers


Book Description

Annotation World Bank Technical Paper 245. This document was designed primarily for staff of newly established debt management institutions within governments that are launching borrowing programs, and discusses the entire range of external debt management. Topics include the organizational procedures for negotiating foreign loans and credits, the control and coordination of borrowing decisions, risk management, the administration of new loans, and external debt accounting and statistics. Basic accounting principles are reviewed and the use of computers explored. The authors stress that the government unit with responsibility for meeting future debt service obligations should also play a major role in decisions regarding foreign borrowing. Reporting statistics on external debt is a crucial part of a country's relationship with the World Bank and other donors. The Bank has formal requirements for debt reporting by member nations and accurate accounting is a prerequisite to having loans considered by the Bank's Executive Board. This book is an essential reference for training and technical assistance programs in asset and liability mangement.













Building America's Skilled Technical Workforce


Book Description

Skilled technical occupationsâ€"defined as occupations that require a high level of knowledge in a technical domain but do not require a bachelor's degree for entryâ€"are a key component of the U.S. economy. In response to globalization and advances in science and technology, American firms are demanding workers with greater proficiency in literacy and numeracy, as well as strong interpersonal, technical, and problem-solving skills. However, employer surveys and industry and government reports have raised concerns that the nation may not have an adequate supply of skilled technical workers to achieve its competitiveness and economic growth objectives. In response to the broader need for policy information and advice, Building America's Skilled Technical Workforce examines the coverage, effectiveness, flexibility, and coordination of the policies and various programs that prepare Americans for skilled technical jobs. This report provides action-oriented recommendations for improving the American system of technical education, training, and certification.




IMF Staff papers


Book Description

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 the flexibility of the labor market and the evidence regarding the wage and employment effects of trade reform are discussed next. The last part of the paper identifies a variety of issues that may require further investigation.




High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms


Book Description

We study a longitudinal sample of over one million French workers and over 500,000 employing firms. Real total annual compensation per worker is decomposed into components related to observable characteristics, worker heterogeneity, firm heterogeneity and residual variation. Except for the residual, all components may be correlated in an arbitrary fashion. At the level of the individual, we find that person-effects, especially those not related to observables like education, are the most important source of wage variation in France. Firm-effects, while important, are not as important as person-effects. At the level of firms, we find that enterprises that hire high-wage workers are more productive but not more profitable. They are also more capital and high-skilled employee intensive. Enterprises that pay higher wages, controlling for person-effects, are more productive and more profitable. They are also more capital intensive but are not more high-skilled labor intensive. We also find that person-effects explain 92% of inter-industry wage differentials.




Internal Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis


Book Description

This book discusses the institutional aspects of the American labor market. The introduction assesses the major changes since 1971.




Do Active Labor Market Policies Increase Employment?


Book Description

Using panel data for 15 industrial countries, active labor market policies (ALMPs) are shown to have raised employment rates in the business sector in the 1990s, after controlling for many institutions, country-specific effects, and economic variables. Among such policies, direct subsidies to job creation were the most effective. ALMPs also affected employment rates by reducing real wages below levels allowed by technological growth, changes in the unemployment rate, and institutional and other economic factors. However, part of this wage moderation may be linked to a composition effect because policies were targeted to low-paid individuals. Whether ALMPs are cost-effective from a budgetary perspective remains to be determined, but they are certainly not substitutes for comprehensive institutional reforms.