Panoeconomicus

Guest Editor Introduction

Jesús Ferreiro — 2023-07-14

The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World by Adrian Wooldridge

Boris Begović — 2023-07-14

Principles of Institutional and Evolutionary Political Economy: Applied to Current World Problems by Phillip Anthony O’ Hara

Alpar Lošonc — 2023-07-14

Undesired Consequences of Labour Market Reforms: From Temporary to Precarious Jobs - The Case of Spain

Jesús Ferreiro — 2023-07-14

One of the peculiarities of the Spanish labour market has been the existence of a high share of temporary employment, a result of the 1984 labour reform which made the use of temporary contracts more flexible. Since 1994, various reforms have sought to increase the use of open-ended contracts and discourage the use of fixed-term contracts. Although these reforms, in particular the 2012 and 2021 reforms, have led to a reduction in the share of temporary workers they have also created other unintended problems, such as a reduction in the duration of fixed-term contracts, the proliferation of part-time contracts and atypical open-ended contracts, and a high share of temporary employment in public sector.

JEL: E24, J21, J41, J48, J68.

Income Inequalities in the Accelerating Digital Era: Evidence from EU Countries and COVID-Time

Beata Woźniak-Jęchorek — 2023-07-14

Many research state that digitalization is mainly an opportunity, now more than ever. Digital firms are more productive, employ more skilled workers, and foresee more employment growth opportunities ahead. In 2020, the combined health and economic shocks have, however, accelerated the technology-driven displacement of jobs, which can exacerbate existing inequalities in the coming years. The goal of this paper is to analyze changes in the scale of income inequalities over the last five years, ending in 2021 with respect to the pre-existing inequalities in access to ICTs (connectivity), differences in digital skills (human capital), integration of digital technology in enterprises and digital public services in EU countries. Our research indicates that in the short-term, the degree of inequality in EU27 nations grew more in countries with greater connectivity, as measured by access to broadband Internet. However, only the integration of digital technology in businesses and fundamental access to the Internet were linked to a greater reduction in the Gini index from 2017-2021.

JEL: D31, E24, O33.

Sectoral Distribution of FDI and Employment: Evidence from Post-Transitional European Countries

Kosta Josifidis — 2023-07-14

This paper examines, from the perspective of Post-Keynesian economics, the effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the employment rate in 18 post-transitional European countries from 1995 to 2021. Using a two-step system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) panel data estimator, we test the hypothesis that the employment impact of investment depends on the interaction of FDI and domestic investment in terms of crowding-in and crowding-out relationships, assuming that this relationship is sensitive to the sectoral distribution of FDI stock. Our findings suggest that the reallocation of FDI inflows from the manufacturing sector to the less labour intensive financial and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors tends to reduce the employment effect of FDI both directly and indirectly by reducing the magnitude of the crowding-in effect of FDI on domestic investment. The outcome of our study is of great interest to economic policy makers. If foreign investment displaces domestic investment and reduces employment in high value-added sectors, policies intended to attract foreign capital could be challenged and undermined. Otherwise, if foreign and domestic investment in sectors with high added value are complementary, it justifies policies aimed at attracting foreign investment.

JEL: F16, F21.

Labour Market Reforms in Brazil (2017-2021): An Analysis of the Effects of Recent Flexibilization on Labor Market Legislation

José Luis Oreiro — 2023-07-14

The main objective of this work is to analyze the effects of Brazilian Labor Market Reform (BLMR) in the short run and, based on identified changes in the economy in recent decades, to verify how these changes have affected the labor market. Four methods were used in a complementary way: (i) employment quality index; (ii) panel data estimation method; (iii) synthetic control method and (iv) microdata analysis. We observed that there was no considerable increase in the quality of employment and formal employment and the rate of unemployment did not decrease after the implementation of these changes. Part of this dynamic is cyclical and related to exogenous shocks, such as the COVID pandemic on the Brazilian economy. Finally, according to econometric analysis, the rate of unemployment in Brazil is more responsive to investment rates and the business environment than to unit labor cost and changes in labor legislation.

JEL: J2, J24, J4, J46, J5, J53.

Structural Change, Labor Market and Employment in Brazil after the 2017 Labor Market Reform

Eliane Araújo — 2023-07-14

The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of the set of measures adopted by the labor reform of 2017 on the generation of employment and income in Brazil. The study is based on the literature that highlights the importance of structural change in employment as a key element for economic growth and development, emphasizing that in Brazil, there is still a view that the labor market should take on more flexible work relationships to advance in the improvement of jobs, levels of employment, productivity and income. Subsequently, the article summarizes and critically comments on the main measures of the labor law reforms adopted in post-2017 Brazil. Finally, it presents an analysis of the behavior of the labor market in Brazil between 2012 and 2022 based on data from the PNADC/IBGE survey. The main results of the survey confirm that the labor reform of 2017 has not shown advances in labor market indicators or in the main macroeconomic aggregates of the country. In contrast, the data suggest deterioration in the indicators of employment, income and allocation of workers in occupations with low productivity and income characteristics.

JEL: J08, J83, O11, O43.

The Impacts of the Brazilian Labour Reform on Employment, Output, and Labour Productivity

Claudio Roberto Amitrano — 2023-07-14

This paper discusses the role played by the recent Brazilian Labour Reform (BLR) in conditioning the level and the rate of growth of employment, value added and productivity in the Brazilian economy from 2017. Our main findings are that after BLR, the share of informal employment, value added and productivity increased, as well as those shares in low productivity sectors. Furthermore, we show that the employment created in low-productivity sectors (formal and informal) were moved to high-productivity sectors in the years after the implementation of the 2017 labour reform, the aggregate levels of value added and productivity would have been much higher than otherwise.

JEL: E24, J46, J50, J65, J83, O40