Showing posts with label Inclusive Growth. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2015
What Lies Behind Norway’s Low Unemployment Rate?
The unemployment rate in Norway is one of the lowest among OECD countries. At the same time, according to an IMF report, absence from work due to sickness “is the highest among the OECD countries, and so is expenditure on health related benefits, which is more than 5 percent of GDP. About one-fifth of the working age population receives income supports related to health problems or disability, which is nearly everybody who is not working. Read the full article…
Posted by at 9:00 AM
Labels: Inclusive Growth
Monday, September 7, 2015
Labor Day Special: How Countries Rank on Whether Growth Creates Jobs
 |
| Turkey’s Labour and Social Security Minister Ahmet Erdem (center), surrounded by Labour and Employment Ministers of the G20, poses for a family photo during the G20 Ministerial meeting in Ankara, Turkey on Sept 3. (AFP) |
Does economic growth lead to job creation in the short run (over a year)? This new report ranks the G20 countries on how well they are able to translate short run growth into more jobs. Check your guesses against the answers in the report.
Turkey’s Labour and Social Security Minister Ahmet Erdem (center), surrounded by Labour and Employment Ministers of the G20, poses for a family photo during the G20 Ministerial meeting in Ankara, Read the full article…
Posted by at 11:47 AM
Labels: Inclusive Growth
Friday, August 14, 2015
Recent Labor Market Reforms in Spain: A Preliminary Assessment
“The 2012 labor market reforms are making a difference. Wage moderation is contributing to a visible recovery in headline employment growth, and the reforms have made the labor market more resilient to shocks. There is also some evidence that the contribution of temporary contracts to employment growth has started to decrease. However, the reliance on temporary workers remains strong overall and further structural reforms will be required to reduce the still very high level of long-term, structural unemployment.”
From a new IMF study:
“The 2012 labor market reforms are making a difference. Wage moderation is contributing to a visible recovery in headline employment growth, and the reforms have made the labor market more resilient to shocks. There is also some evidence that the contribution of temporary contracts to employment growth has started to decrease. However, the reliance on temporary workers remains strong overall and further structural reforms will be required to reduce the still very high level of long-term,
Posted by at 5:25 PM
Labels: Inclusive Growth
Friday, July 17, 2015
IMF Staff Paper: Unionization, Minimum Wages and Inequality
“IMF economists have found a decline in unionization—that is, the reduction in the proportion of workers who are union members—and the erosion of minimum wages to be associated with rising inequality in advanced economies. However, these findings do not necessarily constitute a blanket recommendation for higher unionization and minimum wages.” Read the IMF Survey story and the paper.
This work adds to the growing stock of IMF work on inequality. Here’s:
- a guide to previous IMF work on inequality;
- a special feature on Jobs & Inequality,;
- new work on the impact of capital account liberalization on inequality; and,
- the IMF’s work on inequality in China
“IMF economists have found a decline in unionization—that is, the reduction in the proportion of workers who are union members—and the erosion of minimum wages to be associated with rising inequality in advanced economies. However, these findings do not necessarily constitute a blanket recommendation for higher unionization and minimum wages.” Read the IMF Survey story and the paper.
This work adds to the growing stock of IMF work on inequality.
Posted by at 10:03 PM
Labels: Inclusive Growth
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Inequality in China
Authors Serhan Cevik and Carolina Correa-Caro write that the rich are gleaning most of the fruits of the transition from a system of centrally-planned socialism to a market-oriented economy.
Although per-capita income has grown and the number of people living on less than a $1.25 a day has plummeted, income inequality has skyrocketed, the economists said. The top quintile of earners now pull in nearly half of total income while the poorest quintile of earners account for under 5%.
“China’s widening income inequality is largely a reflection of faster income growth among the rich, rather than stagnant living standards among the poor,” the two economists said.
With an estimated 2.4 million millionaire households, China now has more than any country but the U.S.
China’s credit-fueled investment and export-led development model are likely the primary drivers of the sharp increase in income inequality over the last three decades, they said.
Beijing’s economic strategy has aimed at higher growth rates. Although that effort may have lifted many Chinese out of poverty, the two economists said there’s mounting evidence that the widening income gap could weigh on future growth. That, they said, could come “with significant social consequences, especially in a country like China aiming to move beyond the ‘middle income’ status.”
To relieve those potential pressures, the two economists recommend ramping up taxes to pay for a redistribution of income: raising taxes on higher earners, broadening the personal tax and imposing a value-added tax on services. At the same time, Beijing could lower labor taxes that hit low- and middle-income earners, they said.”
WSJ’s Ian Talley reports on an IMF working paper. According to Talley: ” A widening gap between China’s rich and poor makes “one of the most unequal countries in the world,” according to a new working paper published by the International Monetary Fund.
Authors Serhan Cevik and Carolina Correa-Caro write that the rich are gleaning most of the fruits of the transition from a system of centrally-planned socialism to a market-oriented economy.
Posted by at 1:12 AM
Labels: Inclusive Growth
Subscribe to: Posts