Euro-productivity and euro-jobs since the 1960s: which institutions mattered?

How have labor market institutions and welfare-state transfers affected jobs and productivity in Europe? Many studies have tackled this question, with mixed results. This paper proposes an eclectic approach and gives a clearer answer to the issue. Orthodox criticisms of European government institutions are right in some cases and wrong in others. Labor-market policies such as employment protection laws have become more costly since 1980 through their human-capital cost of protecting senior male workers at the expense of women and youth. Product-market regulations may have reduced GDP, though the evidence is less robustProductivity, Employment protection legislation, unemployment benefits, social spending, welfare state

Are NGO´S promoting development objectives? In pursuit of empirical data

As concerns persist over the effectiveness of official aid, and global partners seek better ways to promote development, donors have increasingly allocated funds through non-government organizations (NGOs) to sidestep the "capture" problem associated with public aid flows in poor countries and bring services directly to those who need them. Despite this shift, surprisingly little data is available on exactly how much money is spent by NGOs in each recipient nation. This paper explores the data gap by comparing existing measures of NGO presence and presenting a new series. The exercise raises important questions about whether NGOs are effectively promoting development.Non Profit Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations, Países en desarrollo, Developing economies

Measuring job security over time: in search of a historical indicator for EPL

All studies that have explored the impact that job-security legislation has had on labor-market performance have been handicapped by the lack of a good quantitative indicator covering a long enough historical period to reflect the drastic changes that have occurred in this area since World War II. This study has developed such an indicator in hopes of making a key tool available for labor-market research. The paper describes the reason that job security is important for labor market performance, and outlines the steps taken to develop this time-series indicator, which should help to deliver on how job-security laws have affected labor market performance in the developed countries since WWII.

Competitiveness and the employment relationship in the 21 st Century:

Competitiveness is an often ill-defined concept that is key to economic success. This paper focuses on the links between competitiveness and the employment relationship. It ranks European countries by their specialization in high-technology, skilled labor sectors to yield a competitiveness ranking, and examines workers´ values and attitudes to identify common features of the "competitive" countries.Employment relationship

Euro-Productivity and Euro-Jobs since the 1960s: Which Institutions Really Mattered?

How have labor market institutions and welfare-state transfers affected jobs and productivity in Western Europe, relative to industrialized Pacific Rim countries? Orthodox criticisms of European government institutions are right in some cases and wrong in others. Protectionist labor-market policies such as employee protection laws seem to have become more costly since about 1980, not through overall employment effects, but through the net human-capital cost of protecting senior male workers at the expense of women and youth. Product-market regulations in core sectors may also have reduced GDP, though here the evidence is less robust. By contrast, high general tax levels have shed the negative influence they might have had in the 1960s and 1970s. Similarly, other institutions closer to the core of the welfare state have caused no net harm to European jobs and growth. The welfare state%u2019s tax-based social transfers and coordinated wage bargaining have not harmed either employment or GDP. Even unemployment benefits do not have robustly negative effects.

Measuring The Changing Generosity Of Unemployment Benefits: Beyond Existing Indicators

There has long been a consensus that generous unemployment benefits probably raise unemployment rates.The link has been difficult to demonstrate, since existing indicators on the generosity of unemployment benefits overlook key aspects of the system that may influence worker response.The author develops a new indicator for unemployment benefits in 21 countries in the 1950-2003 time period which combines the amount of the subsidy with their tax treatment, their duration and the conditions that must be met in order to collect them.The new indicator shows that benefit generosity has indeed risen over time and differs greatly among countries, opening up future directions for empirical research.

Public-Private Partnerships in Spain: Lessons and Opportunities

Spain presents an interesting paradox in the history of PPP (Public-Private Partnerships). Successive governments have seized on PPPs as a solution to budget constraints at a time of dwindling EU aid and stricter fiscal targets, making it one of Europe´s most enthusiastic users of PPP since 2003. Undoubtedly, this trend will bring benefits in terms of more abundant, lower-cost and higher-quality services. However, there are risks implicit in the way PPP is unfolding in Spain that could limit and even undo these benefits unless steps are taken to coordinate, monitor and follow up public-private projects and to communicate their virtues to the public.

El impacto de la Inversión Directa de Estados Unidos en España

La expansión de los flujos de entrada de la inversión directa extranjera en España ha sido un rasgo característico de nuestra economía desde mediados de la década de los ochenta. Así, según el último informe de la UNCTAD –“World Investment Report 2004”–, España es uno de los principales destinatarios de inversión extranjera directa, siendo el octavo destino de flujos de inversión por país y el tercero de la Unión Europea en número de compañías extranjeras instaladas

Into the Abyss: Occupational Segregation of Immigrant Workers and the Spanish Crisis 2006-2012

Spain became one of the world’s top immigration destinations in the 21st century, with the share of migrants in employment climbing to a peak of 17% just as the crisis hit the country. How did these immigrants fare in a rigid labour market as the housing bubble burst and recession brought soaring unemployment? Our paper explores the occupational segregation of Spain’s immigrants and finds that it declined in the wake of the crisis. The improvement, however, obscures massive job destruction in temporary jobs and in the low-skilled sectors where foreigners were concentrated. The results point to the need for better skills and training and measures to tackle the deep permanent/temporary contract divides in Spain, to protect migrant workers as well as unskilled Spaniards

Public-Private Partnerships In Spain: Lessons And Opportunities

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), a “marriage” between public- and private-sector activity, have been employed for almost two decades as a “third way” to optimize the use of public funds and boost the quality of services traditionally provided by the public sector.  Their use has spread from the United Kingdom to Europe and beyond, and has expanded from the transport sector to innovative projects in health, education and others.  In Spain, successive governments have seized on PPPs as a solution to budget constraints at a time of dwindling EU aid and stricter fiscal targets.  As a result, the use of PPPs at all levels of government has exploded since 2003 and most recently culminated in a major infrastructure plan which relies on the private sector for 40% of  its total investment.  Undoubtedly, this trend will bring benefits to the Spanish population in terms of more abundant, lower-cost and higher-quality services.  However, there are risks implicit in the way PPP is unfolding in Spain that could limit and even undo these benefits unless steps are taken to coordinate, monitor and follow up public-private projects and to communicate their virtues to the public.  Spain presents an interesting paradox in the history of PPP.  While it is one of Europe´s oldest, most active and most enthusiastic users of PPP, it is at the same time one of the countries that has demonstrated least interest at an official level in informing, monitoring, regulating and following up projects to ensure that their deepest benefits are being achieved.  Relying on PPP only for private financing entails a risk that the benefits of PPP will not be realized and public services will actually become more expensive and less satisfactory over the medium and long term.  The Spanish government is advised to take steps similar to those taken in the United Kingdom, to ensure that PPP is managed correctly and hence becomes an asset and not a liability to Spanish citizens.