Farmers' bulletin (United States. Dept. of Agriculture)

Describes methods of conservation farming for fruit orchards and vineyards

Nonstandard Forms and Measures of Employment and Unemployment in Transition: A Comparative Study of Estonia, Romania, and Russia

This paper looks behind the standard, publicly available labor force statistics relied upon in most studies of transition economy labor markets. We analyse microdata on detailed labor force survey (LFS) responses in Russia, Romania, and Estonia to measure nonstandard, boundary forms and alternative definitions of employment and unemployment. Our calculations show that measured rates are quite sensitive to definition, particularly in the treatment of household production (subsistence agriculture), unpaid family helpers, and discouraged workers, while the categories of part-time work and other forms of marginal attachment are still relatively unimportant. We find that tweaking the official definitions in apparently minor ways can produce alternative employment rates that are sharply higher in Russia but much lower in Romania and slightly lower in Estonia, and alternative unemployment rates that are sharply higher in Romania and moderately higher in Estonia and Russia. Comparative Economic Studies (2006) 48, 435–457. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ces.8100181

Assessing the 'Choosiness' of Job-seekers. An Exploratory Approach and Evidence for Italy

We use information about job search and work preferences, typically collected in a labour force survey, in order to construct an indicator of 'choosiness' of the labour supply of job-seekers. The method for obtaining the indicator, first at individual level and then at aggregate levels, is based on results from multiple correspondence analysis. We investigate the informational value of the indicator by examining its stability over time and its predictive power on labour force transitions. Empirical analyses of cross-section and panel samples of job-seekers from the Italian quarterly Labour Force Survey clarify the potentials (and limitations) of the approach. Copyright 2006 The Authors; Journal compilation 2006 CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd..