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It is now widely accepted that a time-use survey can provide better estimates of the workforce/labour force and can also add rich additional information on the LFS. However, the status of time-use surveys in the global south today is poor in the sense that the surveys have not been able to provide always the quality data produced through rigorous concepts and methods. This paper discusses the problems and shows the way to move forward. In the first part of the paper, it discusses the major constraints and problems of these countries. There are two major categories of these problems: (1) problems related to designing the different components of time-use survey and (2) problems related to collecting data on the time use of people. It is argued that the first part of the problems, which are related to harmonization and standardization of concepts, can be resolved by a well-designed Guidebook. UNSD is already published one Guidebook in 2004, and it is revising the Guidebook to add new developments. The second category of problems is tough and needs expert support. ILO and UNSD have done good work in this area. Based on this work as well as the reviews done of time-use surveys in the global south, the author presents a way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper based on the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) panel data set makes an attempt to estimate total factor productivity growth (TFPG) across countries. Productivity convergence over time is evident when countries are divided across regions which could be attributed to a greater degree of association of countries in a given region pursuing joint efforts for infrastructural development, ICT coverage and advancement, trade negotiations, technology acquisition and innovation, and inflow of FDI. In terms of efficiency estimates for select years, most of the countries are seen to be operating much below the frontier. This is indicative of the fact that countries are keen to pursue resource-driven growth in an attempt to maximize it. Based on the inter-temporal data, we observed that a number of countries registered either a negative or a positive but low correlation between labour productivity growth and TFPG. Evidently, countries are engaged in greater mechanization which may be raising labour productivity without ushering in much success in terms of TFPG. From panel data regression, the impact of technology perceived in terms of TFPG, on employment, is seen to be negligible though it is important to note that none of the groups, income or region-wise, recorded a statistically significant negative effect except the least developed countries (LDCs), while the significant cases (howsoever scanty) reveal a positive association. Appropriate incentives may motivate firms to experience technological progress and employment growth both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hundred years from the Bolshevik Revolution that shook the world, workers around the globe are facing new challenges. Throughout a long stretch of the global South, job creation is sluggish, real wages are stagnant, and working conditions are getting harsher and there is a growing disjoint between work and wealth. Against this backdrop, in this paper we flag the employment challenges facing India at present. Using a novel 4-quadrant compartmentalisation, we observe that the three major challenges are—absolute lack of employment opportunities; chronic unemployment and intermittent employment; and substantial underemployment and loss of person days. Two further related challenges are low returns from work and skill mismatch. All these markers have worsened in the last decade which also witnessed massive job loss for casual workers. This is perhaps a natural sequel to the economic boom built on mass casualisation of workforce over the previous two decades. At first sight of slowdown, the axe has fallen on these casual workers. Mismatch between sectoral shares in output and employment also causes wage disparity and aggravates inequality. With production increasingly set to become machine and AI driven, labour redundancy and skill mismatch is expected to worsen in coming years. We must press for a separate employment–incomes policy rather than continue with the false hope that economic growth will solve the employment conundrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to determine the extent to which the government impacts the market accessibility of manufacturing enterprises in developing countries, specifically in the event of insufficient infrastructure. The paper utilizes a questionnaire-based survey of 153 enterprises of Hajipur in the Indian state of Bihar. On the basis of a statistical analysis of responses to the open-ended questions collected from representatives of the surveyed enterprises, the authors find that considerations of consumer market and profit directly drive the agglomeration of enterprises beyond (all) the other (examined) factors. The authors examine the relationship between local government support and market accessibility by using two methods of analysis, viz. OLS regression and the average treatment effect. There are six indices of local government support, covering particular subsidies, joint subsidies for production, and general support. The four indices for market accessibility have been constructed by assigning three-scale and five-scale categorization schemes of the locations of final production in both ascending and descending orders. The authors also find that the government support helps enterprises reduce cost and facilitates the sale of the enterprises' final product in more distant markets. This research provides a new perspective on the role the government can play in fostering state-level prosperity in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical experience suggests that a sustained rise in per capita incomes and improvement in employment conditions is not attainable without a structural transformation that moves surplus labour from agriculture and other informal economic activities to higher productivity activities in the non-farm economy. In this paper, I analyse India's performance from a cross-country comparative perspective, estimating the growth semi-elasticity of structural change. Using a cross-country panel regression, I estimate the effectiveness of growth in moving workers away from agricultural and informal activities as compared to other developing countries at similar levels of per capita income. I show that the performance in pulling workers out of agriculture is as expected given its level and growth of GDP per capita, but the same is not true for pulling workers out of the informal sector. I also propose the following five indicators that need to be kept track of when evaluating the growth process: the growth elasticity of employment, the growth semi-elasticity of structural change, the growth of labour productivity in the subsistence sector, the share of the organised sector in total employment and the workforce participation rate. Comparing these indicators across periods, states, regions or countries, allows us to understand which sets of policies have worked better than others to effective improvements in employment conditions. And taken together the indicators allow us to set structural change targets as well as to say whether the current pattern of growth is going to be sufficient to meet those targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses how correct is the view that a rise in income inequality is unavoidable in a globalizing economy characterized by rapid skill-biased technical change. To do so, it reviews the inequality trends recorded in the main developed and developing region during the last three decades. The data show that inequality rose in almost 70% of the countries with data during the years 1980–2000. These years were characterized by rapid internal and external liberalization and privatization. Yet, this trend was reversed during the subsequent decade, when Latin America and parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia recorded a decline in inequality. The evidence also suggests that while globalization and technical change may indeed increase inequality, domestic factors and policies were often behind the inequality increases of the last three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of educational levels on wages across different occupational groups. The existing literature relating to this topic concludes that returns to surplus schooling are less than that of ideal level of schooling required for a job. This observation is not in accordance with the theory of human capital. Many authors observe that workers who are over-educated for a job are paid less than their counterparts (with ideal education level) who are in a job for which they are adequately educated. However, such observations are limited to developed countries and have not been empirically validated in the case of developing countries. Thus, this is an attempt towards analysing the effect of education, especially over-education as regards its bearing on wages in the Indian labour market. This study delves deeper into unfolding the education-wage nexus within each of the seven occupational groups defined for this study. Realised Matches method is used for calculating the over and under-educated for each occupational group. It is found that there is an agreement with human capital theory among all occupational categories in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on unemployment in India has not given adequate attention to the analysis of unemployment spells. This paper attempts to fill this gap by focusing on the trends in the incidence and distribution of unemployment spells from 1993 to 2012. It was found that shorter unemployment spells of up to two months are more prevalent in rural areas, primarily for casual labour who experience a break in their employment due to lack of work. On the other hand, longer spells of more than 6 months are predominant in urban areas, experienced predominantly by young, well-educated population, who do not come from the poorest households, and do not have any previous job market experience. Further, the incidence as well as the contribution to longer durations of unemployment is higher in the eastern region and females are more likely than males to experience them. The author discusses the findings, their policy implications, and suggests ways to improve upon the available data so that it can help in developing a better understanding of the factors contributing to unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of how the employment goal can be defined and how it can be pursued in developing countries. In doing so, it questions the following three conventional wisdoms in this area: (i) Economic growth always leads to job creation. (ii) When growth is not accompanied by job creation, it primarily occurs due to rigidities in the labour market, and (iii) a large part of the unemployment problem must be due to lack of education and skills among the labour force. Empirical evidence has been used to examine and dispel these conventional notions. And on that basis, it is argued that a re-thinking in development strategies is needed in order to effectively address the goal of full and productive employment in developing countries. A combination of macroeconomic and sector level policies and appropriate labour market policies is needed to achieve the goal of economic transformation and diversification that is critical for making growth more job-rich. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]