Social effects of economic crisis: risk of exclusion. An overview of the European context

Sustainability is a complex concept. It only can be achieved from a global perspective, where social, economic and environmental issues are all key factors for achieving the goal. This paper is focused on the importance of social sustainability and, as a consequence, the importance of avoiding each and everyone’s risk of poverty and exclusion as due to the recent crisis effects. Nevertheless, this crisis resulted in higher inequalities and put a lot of people at risk of poverty, even in “developed” countries. Through a statistical and econometric analysis, some of the key factors to which the European Union should aim to avoid unsustainable scenarios are analysed. A regression, factorial and cluster analysis is carried out and this leads to conclude that the labour market is key in promoting economic policies in order to achieve social sustainabilityResearch results presented in this paper are an element of research project implemented by the National Science Center Poland (Polskie Narodowe Centrum Nauki) under the grant OPUS13 no UMO-2017/25/B/HS4/0217

Calidad del empleo juvenil en el contexto de la OCDE

La falta de empleo juvenil y su escasa calidad no concuerdan con el desarrollo sostenible,ni con la agenda 2030. Se precisa corregirestas debilidades. Este trabajo revisa la conceptualización y medición de la calidad del empleo y,en base al Índice de Calidad del Trabajo de la OCDE,presentando un indicador sintético, con diferentes componentes, mediante el cual realiza una comparación de medias dela calidad del trabajo para el conjunto de los trabajadores y los jóvenes. Los resultados muestran la presencia de diferencias significativas en ciertos indicadores que señalan las claves a seguir para la solución del problema

Quality of Youth Employment in the Context of the OECD

La falta de empleo juvenil y su escasa calidad no concuerdan con el desarrollo sostenible, ni con la agenda 2030. Se precisa corregir estas debilidades. Este trabajo revisa la conceptualización y medición de la calidad del empleo y, en base al Índice de Calidad del Trabajo de la OCDE, presentando un indicador sintético, con diferentes componentes, mediante el cual realiza una comparación de medias dela calidad del trabajo para el conjunto de los trabajadores y los jóvenes. Los resultados muestran la presencia de diferencias significativas en ciertos indicadores que señalan las claves a seguir para la solución del problema.The lack of youth employment and its poor quality are not consistent with sustainable development, nor with the 2030 agenda. These weaknesses need to be corrected. This paper reviews the conceptualization and measurement of job quality and, based on the OECD Job Quality Index, presents a synthetic indicator, with different components, through which it makes a comparison of job quality means for the group of workers and youth. The results show the presence of significant differences in certain indicators that indicate the keys to follow to solve the problem

Digital divide, skills and perceptions on digitalisation in the European Union - Towards a smart labour market

The new technologies, the digitalisation of processes and automation of work will change the manner of doing business, working and living. The effects of digitalisation on the economy, society and quality of life imply significant challenges of the labour market. All the participants will be concerned: authorities, companies and ordinary people. The objective of this research is to analyse the perceptions of the EU citizens about digitalisation and to highlight the differences among specific socio-demographic groups. The analysis is grounded on a composite methodology, comprising several statistical and econometric methods that provide scientific support to achieved conclusions: statistical analysis (with the primary goal to shed light on the EU citizens' perceptions about their digital technology skills), TwoStep Cluster Analysis (TSCA) (with the purpose to identify the ‘digital vulnerable groups’ and then the ‘digital vulnerable countries’ in terms of the exposure to digital divide) and logistic regression (with the main aim to quantify the impact of the relevant factors on citizens’ perceptions about digitalisation). We identified a group of respondents evaluating themselves as having meagre digital skills, very afraid that robots could steal their jobs and with low usage of the internet. They are elderly, with a low level of education, manual workers or not working, with a relatively low level of income and little Internet use. The originality of our approach is given by the fact that we focused on investigating if digital divide leads to the creation of vulnerable groups (citizens and/or countries) and if there are specific patterns in terms of the perception on being skilled in the use of digital technologies in daily life or at work and of the understanding that robots replace human on the labour market. We aim to find relevant factors for the labour market to assume targeted measures that should be taken for a better match of supply and demand on the labour market and for creating a smart labour market. It is highly needed to increase the people's confidence in their skills level and to make the most of digitalisation of the societies. The results show consistent patterns in term of socio-demographic characteristics and perception towards digitalisation. The latter will have a meaningful impact on the economy and the society in the European Union in the next period. That is why a positive attitude towards digitalisation is essential for transforming this relatively new challenge into an excellent opportunity for the future

Efectos de las políticas de austeridad en el empleo juvenil

Las políticas de austeridad aplicadas en algunos países para hacer frente a la crisis económica iniciada en 2008 han afectado a la inserción laboral de los jóvenes y a la calidad de los empleos conseguidos, provocando una vulnerabilidad superior a la de periodos anteriores a la crisis económica y a la aplicación de dichas políticas. Este es precisamente el caso de España, que se analiza en este trabajo, relacionando la situación de precariedad laboral de los jóvenes con las deficiencias en el sistema educativo, debido a las políticas de austeridad aplicadas durante los tiempos de crisis económica. La metodología se basa en un análisis estadístico-descriptivo, con enfoque dinámico, en base a datos secundarios de las estadísticas oficiales. Se comprueba la situación de vulnerabilidad laboral de los jóvenes, con alto riesgo de desempleo o de encontrar un trabajo precario, con escasa remuneración, que podía terminar en pobreza laboral. Los resultados alcanzados podrían servir como apoyo a la toma de decisiones de los gestores de las políticas públicas, ya que los mismos indican que es preciso tomar decisiones políticas para que se reconduzca la situación y se frene el deterioro de la situación de los jóvenes así como el aumento de las desigualdades

Improving students’ performance by means of motivation: the role of ICTs

Abstract:Aim: The main objective of this paper is to analyze the effects of educational innovation on student implication on the study as a way for getting a job in the future, as well as the role of motivation at the secondary school to help for achieving this goal.Design / Research methods: By means of the elaboration of a questionnaire, the opinion of the students in relation to educative innovation, and, later by means of descriptive statistical analysis and a regression analysis, to search the relation between the concerns for getting a job and the motivational education among the students in secondary educative level is undertaken.Conclusions / findings: The results point towards a positive assessment by the students, who consider that educational innovation, stimulates their interest; boost the participation and collaboration between peers and with the teaching staff, at the same time there is a statistical significant relation between the students’ concern about their future working life and the motivations at school. The motivation is strongly relate to incorporation of ICTs at classroom, particularly computers and tablets.Originality / value of the article: The main value of this research is on stablishing a link between three key features: the concerns of youth about their future labor life, the motivation at school and the role of ICTs on this motivation.Limitations: The main limitations of this research are related to the sample, nevertheless the preliminary generalization of this results can be acceptable, according the literature.

Job quality and well-being in OECD countries

The lifestyle of world citizens has suffered an unprecedented impact as a result of the health crisis caused by the COVID-19. Economies and worldwide societies expect huge damages comparable to that caused by war. To the effects of this crisis on employment and wages must be added those produced in the workplace, with a foreseeable increase in job strain, not only as of the result of the health security reasons in the workplace but also to the effects on work-life balance, training and promotion possibilities, etc. This research analyses the impact of the economic situation on health, the influence of health on labour strain and on job quality. Using OECD data and a structural equation model, we have investigated the relationship between economy, health, quality of the job, work-life balance and well-being. The importance of security and safeness in the workplace is one of the items for evaluating job strain, particularly when they become even more crucial in pandemic times. This issue implicates not only the real risk of individual and social health but also a stressful situation for workers. The main contribution of our paper relies on establishing and prove causal relations among social and economic variables related to health, well-being and job quality, including safeness at the workplace. Considering that this relationship will probably become reinforced after a pandemic, like COVID-19, the actual relevance of the analysed topic and the achieved results becomes crucial

Sustainable Development, Poverty, and Risk of Exclusion for Young People in the European Union: The Case of NEETs

The difficulties of access to the labor market remains in the post-crisis period, particularly for younger people and for those countries more affected by the crisis. The economic conditions with the precariousness of the labor market and higher unemployment taxes for youth, draws a scenario where the risk of poverty and social exclusion could influence young people and discourage them from social and economic participation, and thus the number of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEETs) will increase. The sustainable development in general and the social sustainability in particular needs to solve this important issue to get a balanced and fair social and economic scenario. In this work, the influence of socio economic variables related to the level of prosperity of the country and social protection as well as the risk of poverty and social exclusion on young NEETs is evaluated based on the EUROSTAT data for the year, 2016, for young people. The method was a structural equations model and the results confirm that the key important factors for explaining the situation of the NEETs’ are more related to poverty and exclusion than to the economic environment. The main conclusion from these results is the importance of implementing some inclusive actions to prevent an increase in the number of young NEETs, and boosting, in this way, a more balanced and sustainable society

Comportamiento del consumidor y nostalgia: revisión y análisis bibliométrico sobre retromarketing

ES: La concienciación social e individual sobre los aspectos relacionados con la sostenibilidad, han dado origen a la aparición de un nuevo estilo de consumo más consciente y enfocado hacia la calidad y cualidad de los productos, más allá de la cantidad. Además, hay una tendencia creciente hacia la demanda de bienes vinculados a recuerdos o sensaciones de arraigo. La literatura académica se ha hecho eco de estas tendencias. Entre los trabajos publicados se encuentran aquellos que hacen referencia al retromarketing, también llamado marketing de nostalgia. Los estudios sobre retromarketing han crecido notablemente en los últimos años, de igual modo que su uso empresarial vinculado al empuje de la demanda de productos retro/vintage. En este sentido, el objetivo del presente artículo es dual, pues tanto plantea una aproximación al estado de la cuestión como un análisis bibliométrico ad hoc. La bibliometría es enriquecedora porque confiere luz acerca del número de documentos, citas, autores, densidades de red, áreas de conocimiento, tipos de publicación y otros ítems. En el caso que nos ocupa y a partir de los resultados obtenidos en las bases de datos Scopus y Web of Science, se aprecia una tendencia creciente en los estudios sobre retromarketing, situados mayoritariamente en las áreas de Bussiness and Management; y también una concentración en el número de autores que investigan este motivo.Social and individual awareness of aspects related to sustainability has given rise to the appearance of a new style of consumption that is more conscious and focused on the quality and quality of products beyond quantity. In addition, there is a growing trend towards the demand for goods linked to memories or feelings of rootedness. Academic literature has echoed these trends. Among the published works are those of retro marketing, also called nostalgia marketing. Studies on retromarketing have grown notably in recent years, as has its business use linked to the push-in demand for retro / vintage products. In this sense, the objective of this article is dual since it both proposes an approach to the state of the question and an ad hoc bibliometric analysis. Bibliometrics is enriching because it sheds light on the number of documents, citations, authors, network densities, areas of knowledge, types of publication, and other items. In the present case and from the results obtained in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, retromarketing studies are increasing, mostly located in Business and Management, and a concentration on the number of authors investigating this motiv

The LHCb upgrade I

International audienceThe LHCb upgrade represents a major change of the experiment. The detectors have been almost completely renewed to allow running at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger than that of the previous running periods. Readout of all detectors into an all-software trigger is central to the new design, facilitating the reconstruction of events at the maximum LHC interaction rate, and their selection in real time. The experiment's tracking system has been completely upgraded with a new pixel vertex detector, a silicon tracker upstream of the dipole magnet and three scintillating fibre tracking stations downstream of the magnet. The whole photon detection system of the RICH detectors has been renewed and the readout electronics of the calorimeter and muon systems have been fully overhauled. The first stage of the all-software trigger is implemented on a GPU farm. The output of the trigger provides a combination of totally reconstructed physics objects, such as tracks and vertices, ready for final analysis, and of entire events which need further offline reprocessing. This scheme required a complete revision of the computing model and rewriting of the experiment's software