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Although considerable discussion has been devoted to the macro determinants of labor market variables across genders, comparatively little attention has been given to the contribution of the informal economy to this market. This study was aimed at empirically investigating the impact of the size of the shadow or informal economy (IE) on labor market variables across genders in 12 Middle Eastern countries. The study used quarterly time series data on each country under investigation, covering 1991 to 2015. Phillips–Perron unit root tests were carried out to verify the stationarity of the examined economic series. An autoregressive distributed lag approach was adopted to conduct cointegration tests and estimate long-run regression coefficients and error correction terms. The results indicated that the IE served men and women differently across countries. Whereas this economy had a long-run positive relationship with men's employment rates in Bahrain, Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, this relationship existed among women only in Israel. IE activities matter in the employment of men and women in Middle Eastern countries. The sizes of IEs in the labor market are a significant factor that favors men's employment rather than that of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Egypt's labor market transition dynamics post-Arab Spring based on the two most recent rounds of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey conducted in 2012 and 2018. In addition to providing disaggregated level analysis by examining labor market transitions by gender, education, and age groups, our paper provides a cross-country perspective by comparing Egypt's labor market transitions with Jordan's. Regression analyses focusing on transitions to and from the dominant absorbing labor market states in Egypt – public sector employment for both genders, non-participation for women, and the informal sector for men – show that having a post-secondary education is associated with a lower probability of remaining out of the labor force (OLF) for women who were already OLF at baseline, while being married at baseline is found to be a significant predictor for women to stay out of the labor force if they were already so. As for men, the better educated are found to be more likely to secure formal employment, be it in the public or in the private sector, and also more likely to keep their public formal jobs once they secure them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the arrival of COVID-19 in Mexico, a majority of the population was affected in terms of their labor participation. This article aims to measure the levels of educational mismatch-overeducation and undereducation-in Mexico before and after the closure of activities decreed during the pandemic. The research examines changes in educational adjustment from the first quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of the same year and the first quarter of the following year, and it investigates whether there were modifications in sociodemographic profiles, changes in the conditions of those experiencing educational mismatch, and if these dynamics were a result of the crisis. The analysis uses the National Occupation and Employment Survey and employs multinomial models to assess the probability of being in some form of educational mismatch, with a grouped base for five survey editions to establish changes over time. The results show an increase of approximately 0.5% in overeducation in the total occupied population, considering sociodemographic and labor insertion characteristics. Similarly, there are differences between informal and formal employment in terms of how these changes occur, with the former showing increases first, followed by the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy is characterised by a significant dualistic economy, which also includes an extensive underground sector. The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between the quality of legislation and irregular employment in Italy. Our contribution consists of two components: the theoretical modelling of the impact of regulatory quality on the informal economy and the empirical validation of the predictions of the theoretical model using data from the Italian region between 2004 and 2019. The results confirm the theoretical and empirical arguments in favour of the need for laws to curb the informal sector. The regions with the highest institutional standards tend to have a lower percentage of irregular workers that fosters and encourages the legality of the labor market. Some robustness tests back up the main conclusions which show how important following rules is for strengthening the internal economy and for lowering the number of illegal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines whether the Syrian refugee inflow to Jordan has displaced other immigrant workers in the Jordanian Labor Market. Using data from Jordan, before and after the Syrian refugee influx (in 2010 and 2016), we investigate whether male immigrants' labor market outcomes, compared to male Jordanian nationals, were affected by Syrian refugees. We control for the geographic sorting of refugees within Jordan using an instrumental variable approach. We find that male immigrants were more likely to be underemployed (i.e., work in the informal sector, work fewer hours, and earn lower monthly wages) in areas with high concentration of Syrian refugees. These findings suggest that the main competition that occurred in the Jordanian Labor Market, between 2010 and 2016, was not between refugees and male Jordanian nationals, but between refugees and male immigrants. These results suggest that studies examining the impact of refugees on the labor market should consider the effects on immigrants who are likely to be more vulnerable than natives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is intended to examine the relationship between the Employment Vulnerability Index (EVI) and labor informality in Ecuador in 2018, 2019, and 2021 (considering both preand post-pandemic periods). The EVI was constructed using a polychoric principal components analysis (PCPA), while a logistic regression model and a two-stage least squares linear probability model were employed to evaluate its association with workers’ informal status. The findings indicate a positive correlation between employment vulnerability and the likelihood of a worker being engaged in the informal sector, with this correlation being particularly pronounced among individuals with higher EVI scores. Accordingly, policymakers are advised to concentrate their efforts on enhancing workers’ conditions by increasing educational attainment and implementing programs designed to incentivize formal employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of economic growth patterns on employment structure, highlighting the effects of the main final demand components' variations. Brazil is an interesting case study, as it has experienced a combination of sustained economic growth, an improvement in income distribution, and a notable increase in job formalization in the 2004-2013 period. We explore how the Brazilian growth pattern contributed to the employment growth and changes in the occupational structure (informal and formal jobs, and wage-level) and provide original insights into the Brazilian labor market in the long 2000s. We find no signs of typical job polarization, as changes in job structure relate to reductions in wage inequality. We develop a structural decomposition analysis to measure the demand components' role in explaining the Brazilian labor market's transformations based on an effective demand input-output model. Drawing on an analysis of cumulative causation between income distribution, household consumption, and occupational structure, we find that induced consumption significantly impacted service and trade industries, increasing the low-wage jobs growth rate. Our analysis suggests that the combination of cumulative causation with government consumption and investment growth is crucial to explain distributive gains and the absence of job polarization in the Brazilian labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, we conducted a study of the dynamics of the formation of the labor market and employment of the rural population based on the materials of the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine. According to the results of the research, we found that the presence of fully functioning agricultural enterprises and the size of their main and variable production assets are the dominant factors influencing the employment of peasants in Ukraine. In addition, a rather powerful factor influencing the formation of employment indicators of the rural population is the dynamics of the growth of the number of personal peasant farms, which form a fairly significant share of the gross domestic product of the agricultural sector of Ukraine. In the article, we substantiated that the dominant type of employment in rural areas of the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine is personal farms. In the article, we substantiated that in rural areas of Vinnytsia region, the specific weight of such rural population in 2020 was 74.5% of the total number of employed persons. It is important that employment in peasant farms according to the current legislative field of Ukraine is not an officially registered form of employment, therefore the rural population working in this field actually forms the shadow sector of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]