This book empirically investigates the changes in labor market structure accompanying the labor market reform in China by focusing on the labor market segmentation problems from the 1980s to 2013. The book also aims to examine the effect of labor policy reforms on individual, household and enterprise behavior, including the causes and consequences of labor market reform in China, particularly the influences of labor policy reforms on labor market performance. Offering valuable insights into the changing structure of the Chinese economy, this book will be of interest to scholars, activists, and economists.

This collection of research papers explores some of the salient issues relating to the impact of demographic change on the workings and outcomes of labour markets. A first chapter studies the direct impact of ageing on employment and unemployment. However, the age structure of the workforce also shapes productivity and the scope for innovation, issues which are taken up in turn. Furthermore, it is often argued that a decline in the size of the workforce may be offset by an increase in the workers’ skills and knowledge. The impact of demographic developments such as ageing and migration on the accumulation and transfer of human capital is, therefore, studied by a further set of contributions. The volume is rounded off with analyses relating to the supply of labour by women and by older workers. The authors ask, for instance, whether (female) labour migration as well as changes in retirement patterns and policies may counterbalance the expected workforce shrinking.

After the breakdown of socialism in Central and Eastern Europe, the role of education systems in preparing students for the "real world" changed. Though young people were freed from coercive state institutions, the shift to capitalism made the transition from school to work much more precarious and increased inequality in early career outcomes. This volume provides the first large-scale analysis of the impact social transformation has had on young people in their transition from school to work in Central and Eastern European countries. Written by local experts, the book examines the process for those entering the workforce under socialism, during the turbulent transformation years, in the early 2000s, and today. It considers both the risks and opportunities that have emerged, and reveals how they are distributed across social groups. Only by studying these changes can we better understand the long-term impact of socialism and post-socialist transformation on the problems young people in this part of the world are facing today.

Exacerbated by the Great Recession, youth transitions to employment and adulthood have become increasingly protracted, precarious, and differentiated by gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Youth Labor in Transition examines young people's integration into employment, alongside the decisions and consequences of migrating to find work and later returning home. The authors identify key policy challenges for the future related to NEETS, overeducation, self-employment, and ethnic differences in outcomes. This illustrates the need to encompass a wider understanding of youth employment and job insecurity by including an analysis of economic production and how it relates to social reproduction of labor if policy intervention is to be effective. The mapping and extensive analysis in this book are the result of a 3«-year, European Union-funded research project (Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe, or STYLE; http://www.style-research.eu) coordinated by Jacqueline O'Reilly. With an overall budget of just under 5 million euros and involving 25 research partners; an international advisory network and local advisory boards of employers, unions, and policymakers; and non-governmental organizations from more than 20 European countries, STYLE is one of the largest European Commission-funded research projects to exist on this topic. Consequently, this book will appeal to an array of audiences, including academic and policy researchers in sociology, political science, economics, management studies, and more particular labor market and social policy; policy communities; and bachelor's- and master's-level students in courses on European studies or any of the aforementioned subject areas.

Using a biographical approach, this book:·[vbTab]integrates the perspectives of social policy, sociology, youth and transition research, and education and labour market research;·[vbTab]compares policy and practice in a variety of European national contexts;·[vbTab]explores the dilemmas of policies for the inclusion of young people;·[vbTab]suggests that a holistic Integrated Transition Policy, which puts young people's subjective experience at its centre, can provide an alternative to current policies and practice; This book is aimed at academics and students in social policy, sociology, education, economics and political science who are interested in policy analysis with regard to young people. The overview of recent trends also makes it relevant for practitioners and policy makers in the field.

The Czech Republic and Economic Transition in Eastern Europe is the first in-depth, comparative analysis of the Czech Republic's economic transition after the fall of the Communist bloc. Edited by Jan Svejnar,a principal architect of the Czech economic transformation and Economic Advisor to President Vaclav Havel, the book poses important questions about the Republic and its partners in Central and Eastern Europe. The thirty-five essayists describe the country's macroeconomic performance; its development of capital markets; the structure and performance of its industries; its unemployment, household behavior, and income distribution; and the environmental and health issues it faces.In this in-depth, comparative analysis of the Czech Republic's economic transition, an international team of thirty-five economists examine the Republic and its partners in Central and Eastern Europe. Important questions and issues permeate the essays. For example, prior to 1939 the Czech Republic possessed the most advanced economy in the region; is it capable of reestablishing its dominance? Relative to its neighbors, the Republic ranks especially high on some transition-related performance indicators but low on others. What economic effects are related to the 1993 dissolution of the Czech and Slovak governments? And what can be learned by comparing the economic outcomes of two countries that shared legal and institutional frameworks? Data describe the country's macroeconomic performance; its development of capital markets; the structure and performance of its industries; its unemployment, household behavior, and income distribution; and the environmental and health issues facing it. Its most important contributions are its clarifications of the transition process.The authors included in Transforming Czechoslovakia combine the best available data and techniques of economic analysis to assess the replacement of the inefficient but internally consistent central planning system with a more efficient market system. These authors, among whom are central European economic analysts, senior U.S. economists, and Czechoslovakian professors and economic researchers, discuss the country's macroeconomic performance; its development of capital markets; the structure and performance of its industries; its unemployment, household behavior, and income distribution; and the environmental and health issues facing it. The essays vary between presentations of history and policy and technical examinations of data. Together they offer the most comprehensive and detailed assessment of the country's economic transformation in print.This book is important because its essayists compile results and reach conclusions that are broad and credible. The empirical data were gathered on the ground and have been subjected to advanced methodologies, including game theory, industrial organization, and Granger-Sims causality.

Under communism there was, in the countries of Eastern Europe, a high level of gender equality in the labour market, particularly in terms of high participation rates by women. The transition from communism has upset this situation, with different impacts in the different countries. This book presents a comprehensive overview of gender and the labour market since the fall of communism in a wide range of Eastern European countries. Each country chapter describes the nature of inequality in the particular country, and goes on to examine the factors responsible for this, including government policies, changing social attitudes, levels of educational attainment and the impact of motherhood. Overall, the book provides an interesting comparison to the situation in Western developed countries, outlining differences and similarities. No one single Eastern European model emerges while, as in Western developed countries, a range of experiences and trends is the norm.