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Purpose – The purpose of this paper (overview) is to provide a brief introduction to the topic of active ageing and summarise the seven studies included in this special issue. The authors also acknowledge those who were instrumental in bringing this issue to fruition. Design/methodology/approach – The International Journal of Manpower's usual double-blind review process was used to select the seven papers included in this special issue. The papers themselves all have a cross-national perspective using data from eight European countries. These papers represent a wide variety of designs, methodologies and analytic strategies used to study active ageing in the paid labour force as well as in civil society. The papers make use of large-scale surveys among employers and volunteers, case studies in organisations, and vital statistics. Findings – The findings of the studies included in this special issue provide insights into the factors and mechanisms that hamper higher participation levels of older adults in paid employment and civil society, and give suggestions on how to improve their inclusion and how to deal with an ageing workforce. Originality/value – Taken as a collective, the papers in this special issue help propel forward in significant ways the study of active ageing from an international and interdisciplinary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Employability of higher education graduates in europe” from the perspective of global changes. Design/methodology/approach – The empirically based papers of the special issue address six main areas related to the transition of graduates from education to the labour market: employment and employability, job (mis)match, development of particular areas of competency, new certificates of higher education, along with the disciplinarity and status of the self-perceived role of academics in supporting graduates’ careers. Findings – This issue provides empirical findings relevant to various stakeholders of higher education systems which are essential for strategic development in the area. Originality/value – The selection of papers proposes an interdisciplinary scientific approach in the areas of bridging (higher) education with the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in employment status trajectories of young Europeans during their initial labour market experience, and the way in which they are affected by some labour market institutions. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is based on EU-SILC longitudinal data (waves 2006–2012), and focusses on young people aged 16–34. Monthly information on self-declared employment statuses for 36 months is used to define "employment status trajectories". Young people are observed in two different phases: the first three years after leaving education (first phase) and a three-year window, starting around four years after the end of education (2nd phase). Multinomial logit models are used to estimate the probability of following different trajectory types as a function of individual characteristics, macroeconomic conditions and institutional indicators. Findings: Results show that, in the first phase, women and men face on average the same difficulties in entering the labour market. When controlling for the presence of children, non-mothers have higher chances than men to enter rapidly and successfully into the labour market, whereas young mothers have the same chances. In contrast, in the second phase women experience more fragmented pathways than men, even if they do not have children. A less stringent regulation on dismissals of employees with regular contracts could enhance women's employment opportunities in the school-to-work transition, but it would have detrimental effects for both men and women in the subsequent years. On the contrary, a more stringent regulation on the use of temporary contracts would have beneficial effects for women, with no adverse effects for men. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it takes a broader perspective on youth labour market integration by considering two phases of individuals' initial working life. Second, it combines an explicit attention to the first "significant" employment experience with a focus on individual trajectories, by adopting a new method to group trajectories. Third, it shows how the effects of labour market institutions vary by gender, highlighting the importance of considering gender-specific consequences when discussing or adopting labour market reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the stylised facts of over-education among European graduates over time (1998–2013), paying special attention to the measurement issues.Design/methodology/approach The authors use two different sources, the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012, and the European Union Labour Force Survey 1998–2013, with two different aims. The authors employ the first one to make a detailed analysis of the different forms of measuring over-education and its implications in terms of the result obtained. The analysis of the second one responds to studying the evolution and characteristics of over-education in Europe.Findings In the first place, the paper provides evidence of the high level of sensitivity of the level of measured over-education to the type of methodology used. Such difference is even higher when the authors focus on skills vs educational mismatch. The work also shows how with all their shortcomings, the measures of over-education used in the analysis point to the existence of convergence in over-education levels among the European countries of the sample (only interrupted by the crisis), in a context of reduction of over-education rates in many countries.Practical implications Researchers should be particularly careful when estimating over-education, because of the strong implications in terms of the so different results obtained when choosing between competing methods.Originality/value The analysis abounds in the implications of the use of different methodologies of estimating over-education in terms of both size and ranking among European countries. The production of long-run and updated estimates of over-education for a large sample of countries is done using a homogenous database and different estimation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the gender specific private returns on education (RE) in Europe in a comparative perspective. The authors extend the model of de la Fuente (2003) by estimating the parameters by gender and introducing maternity leaves and benefits. The paper analyses the impact of the public policy variables evaluating the elasticities with respect to unemployment benefits, marginal and average tax rates, maternity leave and childcare benefits. Design/methodology/approach – The authors estimate the Mincerian coefficients, with the Heckman’ selection model, for 12 West European countries using the EU-SILC data. The authors then use them as input to calibrate the decision model. Findings – The RE of females tend to be higher than those of males in all the Europeans countries but Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The gender gap can be explained mainly by the wage premia and labour income taxes which more than compensate the negative effects on females’ returns triggered by higher unemployment rates and maternity-related benefits. Practical implications – The tax system has the most pronounced effect on RE. An increase in the marginal tax rates has a negative impact. An increase in the average tax rates can have a negative or positive impact, depending on the progressivity of the tax system. An increase in unemployment benefits and maternity or child-care benefits has a negative but fairly small impact. Social implications – The analysis considers just one dimension of maternity related policies: the effect on RE and differences across gender. These policies may have aims which are beyond the scope of this paper, for instance to increase fertility. From this viewpoint, the small values of the elasticities presented are reassuring in that they suggest that they can be implemented at a fairly small cost in terms of investment in human capital. Originality/value – The authors compute the RE using a model which allows us to take into account and assess the significance of relevant variables: wage premium, income tax, some public transfers and benefits, costs of the investments. Moreover, the authors estimate the wage premia using relatively recent EU-SILC data. Finally, the paper compares 12 EU countries spanning quite different labour market conditions and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In this paper, the authors aim to assess whether immigrants are more likely to receive welfare payments relative to natives across a range of European countries. They also seek to examine relative rates of poverty across immigrants and natives. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for 2007. They present descriptive statistics and results from probit regressions. Findings – The authors find very little evidence that immigrants are more likely to receive welfare payments when all payments are considered together. This is true whether they use descriptive analysis or regression analysis in which they control for relevant characteristics such as age, gender and education. They do find evidence of higher rates of poverty among immigrants. Research limitations/implications – As the data used do not give an indication of the length of time an immigrant has been in a destination country, the authors are unable to assess whether their observed patterns change with length of stay. Social implications – The results run counter to what seems to be a popular perception, namely, that immigrants are intensive users of welfare. Hence, attitudes may be altered. Originality/value – While other papers may have considered this issue, to the authors' knowledge, none have linked the poverty and welfare analyses. The findings raise the possibility that welfare systems are failing to keep immigrants out of poverty and this is important in the context of the inclusion agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – To ease adjustments in the labour market, many countries have softened their legislation since the 1970s by introducing flexible labour contracts or by making their use easier. The purpose of this paper is to document labour management of temporary contracts during the last 20 years in Belgium, compared to the situation in its neighbouring countries. The authors investigate the determinants of the use of flexible labour contracts and the consequences of their introduction on labour dynamics. Design/methodology/approach – A dynamic Probit is considered to model the use of fixed term labour contracts (FTCs) and standard dynamic labour demand equations are used to test the impact of labour contracts on the labour adjustment at the firm level, using a panel of around 8,000 firms during the period 1998-2005. Findings – The results indicate that some firms follow labour management based on a core (indefinite term contracts – ITCs) and a peripheral component (FTCs) and manage temporary contracts on a "permanent" basis, from a long run perspective. Estimates also confirm a much faster temporary contracts employment adjustment, while ITCs adjustment does not depend on whether firms employ FTCs. ITCs short-term employment elasticity with respect to wages suggests that workers protection against redundancies is strengthened when firms manage work organisation with both types of contracts. In contrast to ITCs, FTCs are used to meet unexpected demand shocks. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the growing literature on the impact of the introduction of new flexible contracts on the labour demand at the firm level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence concerning wage differentials and the existence of gender pay discrimination in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used the stochastic frontier approach as an alternative method to measure the relevance of gender discrimination. This methodology allows them to explain the differences between the potential and the observed wage that an individual could obtain, given his or her human capital endowment. Findings – The authors found support for wage discrimination against women. The results show that a significant part of the gender wage gap in all the countries analysed is not attributable to differences in human capital endowment or personal and job-related characteristics. Research limitations/implications – The definition of education in the data set is modest and broadly defined. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the debate on gender discrimination by analysing the determinants of the gender gap using an innovative methodology in the gender gap literature: the stochastic frontier approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The paper aims at providing evidence on the impact on employment of outward foreign direct investment, particularly from developed countries into low-wage countries, which is a major concern in many developed countries. Design/methodology/approach – The effects of foreign production undertaken by Belgian foreign-oriented companies on employment in Belgium are investigated by performing econometric tests for complementarity or substitution between home and affiliate employment. The data are from the Amadeus database and consist of a sample of 254 Belgian parent companies with foreign affiliates in low-wage and other high-wage European countries during the 1999-2007 period. Findings – The results show that, given the size of parent production in the home country, Belgian multinational enterprises with foreign affiliates in higher-wage European countries tend to employ more labour at home the more they produce in the host country. This probably reflects the needs of foreign affiliates in higher-wage European countries for management and supervisory services from parent companies. Another explanation might be that Belgian outward FDI is largely vertical. In contrast, no evidence is found about employment reallocation between parents and affiliates operating in lower-wage European countries. Originality/value – The paper provides evidence on overall effects on employment in Belgium of its outward foreign direct investment for the period 1999-2007, i.e. using the most recent data available. In contrast to many other studies, statistical diagnostic tests were carried out to choose the appropriate model to best fit the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to determine factors that have an influence on human resource management and entrepreneurial success in the context of European innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – A primary test questionnaire was tested with 50 Spanish entrepreneurs. The feedback from this study was used to improve the survey for a final test. Multivariate regression analysis was used to differentiate the factors that allow the explanation of the variables to be studied and factors that, a priori, seem to be the most relevant in explaining entrepreneurial success. Findings – The study allows the determination of what factors make the European entrepreneur successful on his or her business. Research limitations/implications – Limitations are the sample used in the study and the magnitude used to analyse entrepreneurial success. Future research on the topic of the paper can develop and qualify the variables used. Originality/value – European innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are analysed from countries belonging to the European Union to determine the factors that have an influence on human resource management and entrepreneurial success. The results of the paper serve as a tool to develop a model to predict relevant factors of entrepreneurial activity and which have implications for development policy makers and for entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the management of working time flexibility and firm performance, measured by operating hours, in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe. Design/methodology/approach - The paper analyses the European Capital Operating time, Work and Employment Survey (EUCOWE), designed to collect workplace information on operating hours. With data on more than 17,000 establishments in six European countries - France, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK - the paper analyses working time patterns and operating hours. Findings - The authors show the positive relationship between company size and operating times and how SMEs make more limited use of more advanced forms of working-time organisation that may allow them to extend their operating hours. The use of less complex working time measures such as overtime does not have the same positive association with operating hours. However, the results also highlight that smaller establishments can still benefit from the adoption of certain working time practices. The results suggest that the influence of the regulatory environment on the use of working practices or the duration of operating hours is not straightforward, and as such the impact of national regulatory frameworks cannot be discounted in the country-specific differences identified. Originality/value - The paper uses the first comparable data on operating hours and working patterns to demonstrate the limitations on SME operating times across European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper uses a unique survey of Roma and non-Roma in South Eastern Europe with the aim of evaluating competing explanations for the poor performance of Roma in the labour market. Design/methodology/approach -- Following a descriptive analysis, econometric models are employed to identify the determinants of educational achievement, employment and wages for Roma and non-Roma. Limited information maximum likelihood (LIML) methods are employed to control for endogenous schooling and two sources of sample selection bias in the estimates. Non-linear and linear decomposition techniques are applied in order to identify the extent of discrimination. Findings -- The key results are that: the employment returns to education are lower for Roma than for non-Roma whilst the wage returns are broadly similar for the two groups; the similar wage gains translate into a smaller absolute wage gain for Roma than for non-Roma given their lower average wages; the marginal absolute gains from education for Roma are only a little over one-third of the marginal absolute gains to education for majority populations; and, there is evidence to support the idea that a substantial part of the differential in labour market outcomes is due to discrimination. Research limitations/implications -- The survey data employed do not include information on hours worked. In order to partially control for this, the analysis of wages is limited to employee wages excluding the self-employed. Practical implications -- Explanations of why Roma fare so badly tend to fall into one of two camps: the "low education" and the "discrimination" schools. The analysis suggests that both of these explanations have some basis in fact. Moreover, a direct implication of the lower absolute returns to education accruing to Roma is that their lower educational participation is, at least in part, due to rational economic calculus. Consequently, policy needs to address both low educational participation and labour market discrimination contemporaneously. Originality/value -- This is the first paper to attempt to econometrically distinguish between discrimination and educational explanations of Roma disadvantage in the labour market in Central and Eastern Europe. The survey data employed are unique and appropriate for the task. Unusually for analyses dealing with returns to education, the LIML econometric approach employed controls for both endogenous schooling and two sources of sample selection bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The paper seeks to analyse the self-selection of international migrants on observable skills. Design/methodology/approach -- Based on an extended version of the Roy model, which considers random migration costs, the authors analyse the self-selection of migrants on observable skills empirically. For this purpose, the authors employ a new panel data set on the educational attainment of migrants, which covers migration from 143 sending countries into the six main receiving countries in the OECD from 1975 to 2000. Findings -- Migrants tend to be positively self-selected on observable skills, although the inequality in earnings is larger in the sending country relative to the destination countries. The estimation results indicate that a higher inequality in the distribution of earnings in both the receiving and the sending country affects the skill bias of the migrant population favourably. Moreover, higher migration costs and selective immigration policies increase the skill level of migrants relative to those of stayers in the sending countries. Research limitations/implications -- The results may be affected by measurement error, since it was necessary to approximate the returns to education by measures for the inequality of earnings. Practical implications -- The paper provides, inter alia, insights as to how immigration and other policies affect the self-selection of migrants on observable skills, which may be relevant for policy makers. Originality/value -- To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to analyse the self-selection of migrants on the basis of a panel data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether various flexible work arrangements produce different effects on alternative measures of job satisfaction in Europe. To test the existence of heterogeneity in the impact of flexibility on job satisfaction, the paper verifies whether this relation varies with workers' characteristics. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical evidence is based on a representative sample of European employees taken from a specific wave of the Eurobarometer survey. An ordered probit estimator is used to get the relevant estimates and endogeneity problems have been addressed by exploiting the richness of the data-set in terms of information on workers' attitude toward work and life (used as proxies of unobserved time-invariant factors, which are the primary source of endogeneity). Findings - A positive link was found between functional flexibility and job satisfaction and either no effect or a negative impact of quantitative flexibility. The positive impact of functional flexibility is greater when considering satisfaction for intrinsic aspects of the job. Estimates by workers' characteristics highlight interesting differences by age, skill and country of residence. Research limitations/implications - The major limitation is the cross-sectional nature of the data, but there was no awareness of any panel data containing information on all the relevant variables of this analysis. Originality/value - With respect to the existing literature, the paper simultaneously considers different types of flexibility and estimates their effect on different facets of job satisfaction, also considering the impact of flexibility on job satisfaction by workers' characteristics. This evidence may be useful to firms in designing more tailored flexibility packages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to measure and analyse the wage gap between male part- and full-timers in the private sector of six European countries, i,e. Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Design/methodology/approach - Using a unique matched employer-employee data set providing harmonised information on six European countries (the 1995 European Structure of Earnings Survey), the empirical strategy is based on the estimation of standard Mincer wage equations and the Oaxaca and Ransom wage gap decomposition technique. First, individual gross hourly wages are regressed on a set of human capital variables only and second, a wider range of control variables related to e.g. occupation, sector of activity, firm size, and level of wage bargaining is inserted. Findings -The study finds that the raw gap in hourly gross pay amounts to 16 per cent of a male part-timer's wage in Spain, to 24 per cent in Belgium, to 28 per cent in Denmark and Italy, to 67 per cent in the UK and to 149 per cent in Ireland. Human capital differences explain between 31 per cent of the observed wage gap in the UK and 71 per cent in Denmark. When the whole set of explanatory variables is included in the wage regressions, a much larger part of the gap is explained by differences in observed characteristics (except in Italy). Research limitation/implications - Unfortunately, the paper is not able to correct for workers' potential self-selection into part-time and full-time employment. Results suggest that policy initiatives to promote lifelong learning and training are of great importance to help part-timers catch up with full-timers in terms of human capital. Moreover, except for Italy, they point to a persisting problem of occupational and sectoral segregation between men working part-time and full-time which requires renewed policy attention. Originality/value - Economic theory advances a number of reasons for the existence of a wage gap between part-time and full-time workers. Empirical work has concentrated on the wage effects of part-time work for women. For men, much less empirical evidence exists, mainly because of lacking data. This paper therefore makes a valuable contribution. The more so given that (to the best of our knowledge) there exists no cross-national evidence with respect to men's part-time wage penalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Economic theory predicts that unemployment benefits may increase expected income and reduce its volatility, thereby attracting immigrants to countries which implement such programs. This article aims to explore whether and how changes in countries' unemployment benefit spending (UBS) affect immigration. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected for 19 European countries over the period 1993-2008. The relationship between immigration flows and UBS is first tested using the OLS technique. Instrumental variable (IV) and generalised method of moments (GMM) are then used to address reverse causality. Findings – While the OLS estimates suggest the existence of a moderate within-country welfare magnet effect for the inflows of non-EU immigrants, the IV approach reveals that the impact is substantially smaller and statistically insignificant when GMM techniques are implemented. Research limitations/implications – Since information on the immigrants' country of origin is not available, it is not possible to exclude that for immigrants coming from certain areas, unemployment benefits constitute a strong incentive to immigrate. This hypothesis awaits further research, once detailed data is available. Originality/value – This paper complements previous literature on immigration and welfare by exploring the endogenous nature of welfare spending. The empirical results provide insights into the interaction between immigration and welfare policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review good practice examples which promote recruitment and retention of older workers and/or the employability of workers as they age and to examine pathways of practice. Design/methodology/approach – Analysis of qualitative data, drawing on a cross-section selection of 83 good practice case studies in labour organisations in eight European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK. Findings – The study presented good practice examples and pathways of practice for the four most frequently found dimensions in the sample (training, lifelong learning and knowledge transfer; flexible working; health protection and promotion and job design; career development and mobility management) as well as examples from small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (construction) and the public sector (transport) adopting strategies that fall within these dimensions. These examples show that innovative solutions to the challenge of an ageing workforce have been developed with good outcomes, often combining a number of measures, e.g. mobility management, health promotion and knowledge transfer. However, there is an uneven profile of age management debates and company strategies across Europe (with countries such as Germany and the Netherlands being more advanced). There is also some evidence of a standstill or roll-back of measures during an economic crisis. Originality/value – The paper reviews organisational measures facilitating the extension of working lives, of which many are longstanding and include sectors previously underrepresented in good practice databases (SMEs, public sector). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different measures of working conditions affect the health at work of female and male workers of 15 European countries. Particular attention is paid to the gender dimension of this relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Using the European Working Conditions Survey from 2005 the author describes differences in health at work by gender accounting for both psychosocial and physical hazards at work. A Probit OLS estimator is used to obtain the relevant estimates and endogeneity problems have been properly addressed. Findings – Results show that controlling for a broad selection of personal and work attributes, working conditions are associated with more work related health problems – both physical and mental. Importantly, some evidence is found in support of a different pattern by gender. With respect to mental health at work, males suffer more from high work demands/low job autonomy compared to females. Task segregation may play a role in explaining these differences. A less clear pattern across gender is found with respect to physical health problems at work. When the endogeneity of working conditions is taken into account, results are confirmed and show that the effect of working conditions on health at work is under-estimated when endogeneity is not accounted for. Originality/value – The paper's findings contribute to shed more light on the controversial analysis between working conditions and health according to gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to review the case for improved (supra-national) regional social and labour policies in principle, assess the extent to which existing regional associations of governments and regional organizations are actually developing effective regional labour policies in different sub-regions of Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia, and finally explore the driving forces behind their development and suggest how they might be further enhanced. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares the emergence of regional policies concerning labour rights and migrant workers' rights across regions. A sample of more than 15 regional arrangements are then ranked on the basis of their commitment in these areas. Finally, correlations between these rankings and different indicators of (real) regional interdependence are looked at. Findings – The paper shows that regional socio-economic policies are gaining importance in different world regions, although speeds are varied and generally low. It is difficult, however, to find strong correlations with indicators of regional interdependence such as trade or migration. Originality/value – The paper presents one of the first systematic accounts of the development of regional socio-economic policies in different world regions. It shows at the same time that huge opportunities for new policy initiatives exist in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- While forms of non-standard employment (which include part-time work and temporary employment) have received active promotion in recent years, possible negative effects emerging from these forms of employment have not been high on the agenda. This paper, accordingly, aims to compare workers with non-standard contracts and those with standard contracts in relation to transitions out of employment into unemployment, inactivity, household/care activities and education/training. Country differences in outcome are expected due to varying regulations of standard and non-standard employment and different reasons for resorting to forms of non-standard employment. Design/methodology/approach -- The comparison covers four countries, namely Denmark, Germany, the UK and Spain. The segmentation theory is tested by analysing mobility patterns on the basis of the European Community Household Panel data. Event history analysis methods are used. Maximum likelihood multinomial regression models are calculated on the event history data in order to assess competing exits (unemployment, inactivity, household/care and education) between non-standard and standard workers. Findings -- The risk of temporary workers exiting employment is greatest by far in Spain, but also evident in the other countries: casual employment is even more volatile than fixed-term employment. Concerning part-time workers, downward transitions to inactivity and/or household/care are much more frequent than among full-time workers, and this is true even in Spain and Denmark where part-time employment is not traditionally used to combine work with family activities. The expectation that there would be no differences in exits to unemployment - insofar as employment protection legislation applies to both full-time and regular part-time workers - proves true only for Denmark and Germany. Originality/value -- In contrast to most papers on the segmentation potential of non-standard employment this paper is comparative. Furthermore, it uses event history methods and places a special focus on potentially employability-enhancing "sideways transitions" to education/training measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper's main purpose is to evaluate immigrants' demand for social assistance and services and identify the key barriers to social and labor market inclusion of immigrants in the European Union. Design/methodology/approach – An online primary survey of experts from NGOs and public organizations working on immigrant integration in the member states of the European Union was carried out. The data is analyzed using simple comparative statistical methods; the robustness of the results is tested by means of logit and ordered logit statistical models. Findings – The authors find that the general public in Europe has rather negative attitudes towards immigrants. Although the business community views immigrants somewhat less negatively, barriers to immigrant labor market inclusion identified include language and human capital gaps, a lack of recognition of foreign qualifications, discrimination, non-transparent labor markets and institutional barriers such as legal restrictions for foreign citizens. Exclusion from higher education, housing and the services of the financial sector aggravate these barriers. Changes in the areas of salaried employment, education, social insurance, mobility and attitudes are seen as desired by members of ethnic minorities. The current economic downturn is believed to have increased the importance of active inclusion policies, especially in the areas of employment and education. These results appear to be robust with respect to a number of characteristics of respondents and their organizations. Research limitations/implications – The authors' findings are not limited to the sample studied, which is supported by their robustness analysis. However an extended opinion survey of the ethnic minority population is required to more accurately examine the problems faced by diverse groups of immigrants across EU member states. Practical implications – The findings of the study call for more effective diversity management and integration strategies to ensure non-discrimination and better integration of ethnic minorities into the labor markets of member states. Originality/value – There are few studies using primary survey data that have identified a wide range of barriers and challenges to economic integration faced by ethnic minorities in an enlarged European Union. The cross-national opinion survey uniquely reflects views and suggestions of practitioners and immigrant minorities themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to examine whether employers' opinions and expectations regarding workers' retirement age are in line with the ideas of the EU-Member States' governments to increase the participation of older workers and to postpone the transition from paid work into retirement at the end of the labour market career. Design/methodology/approach -- A comparative survey was used among employers from five European countries: Greece, Hungary, Spain, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Findings -- The authors found that most employers are reluctant in supporting later retirement. Part of this reluctance is the result of the perception that an ageing work force is a burden rather than a boom to organizations. Originality/value -- This study shows that there still is a discrepancy between the aims formulated at the level of the European Union and member state countries with respect to stimulating the labour force participation of older workers and the attitudes of individual employers. In particular, the fact that employers perceive alternative solutions to the challenges of an ageing and shrinking workforce, other than delaying retirement, suggests that most employers will not be a major driving force for extending the working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to offer a typology of temporary workers, based on their motives for accepting their work arrangement, which includes voluntary, involuntary and stepping-stone motives, and relate this typology to various individual and work-related variables. Design/methodology/approach -- Latent class analysis of 645 European workers was used to construct a typology of temporary workers. Variation of individual and work-related variables between types of temporary workers was analyzed using ANOVA. Findings -- The analyses suggest that there are three types of workers: involuntary temporary workers highlight the involuntary motive and the stepping-stone motive; the stepping-stone type stresses the stepping-stone motive only, and the non-involuntary group disagrees with all three motives. Moreover, the groups differed significantly on important work-related variables such as occupational position, tenure, employability, and work-involvement. However, differences in individual variables were limited. Research limitations/implications -- The research puts forward a more complex typology of temporary workers than is usually suggested. Moreover, the study shows a non-involuntary group for which temporary employment can become a trap, and hence these workers should be targeted by future policy and interventions. Originality/value -- The research offers a typology of temporary workers, which is founded on motivation theory, and existing research on motives for accepting temporary employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent to which the quality of the jobs of low-skilled young workers is affected by the structure of education and training systems in various European countries. It focuses on the differences between countries providing fairly general education (internal labour market (ILM) contexts) and countries offering more specific vocational education (occupational labour market (OLM) contexts). Design/methodology/approach — Logistic regression analyses. Findings — It is found that low-skilled young workers are worse off in OLM countries than in ILM ones, with respect to employment in a permanent job, employment in a non-elementary job and participation in continuing vocational training. However, in OLM countries low-skilled young workers are less often involuntary part-time employed than those in ILM countries. With regard to participation in continuing vocational training, the ILM-OLM contrast is larger in manufacturing than in services; regarding employment in a permanent job the reverse is true. Originality/value — It is shown that the labour market position of low-skilled young workers is affected by the structure of education and training systems in various European countries. The upgrading of the skills demanded in the European ‘knowledge economies’ will therefore have less severe consequences for low-skilled young workers in ILM countries than in OLM countries, since the acquisition of occupationally specific skills is organized differently between the two institutional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]