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152. Spain's Constitutional Reform: What is seen and not seen
- Author:
- José M. Abad and Javier Hernández Galante
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- On September 7th, five weeks after the European Central Bank (ECB) started buying Spanish bonds as part of its Securities Market Programme, and four weeks since Merkel and Sarkozy announced their proposal of writing debt limits into national laws, the Spanish Parliament has approved a constitutional reform that, by constraining the general government's spending and borrowing capacity, aims to mitigate concerns over public finances. This reform, the second since the current Constitution was enacted by referendum in 1978, has been made possible by an agreement between the ruling socialists (PSOE) and the main opposition party (conservative PP).
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Spain
153. Reconsidering West African Migration: Changing focus from European immigration to intra-regional flows
- Author:
- Anne Sofie Westh Olsen
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Research on West African migration has tended to focus on specific 'crisis migration' issues, such as trafficking, international refugee flows or irregular migration to Europe. This reflects rather Eurocentric policy priorities, since these forms of West African migration are actually relatively small in comparison with intra-regional migration.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Markets, Migration, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Europe
154. Why has the crisis been bad for private pensions, but good for the flat tax? The sustainability of 'neoliberal' reforms in the new EU member states
- Author:
- Miroslav Beblavý
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- In this paper, we examine two questions related to the sustainability of the major, neoliberal, economic and social reforms in the new EU member states, namely the flat income tax and private pension pillars. First, we look at the relationship between the political consensus/controversy at the time major policy reforms were passed and the future sustainability of these reforms after a change of government. Second, we explore what we call a paradox of reverse sustainability, whereby the flat income tax has been more politically resilient during the global financial and economic crisis than private pensions, even though ex ante expectations and the literature would lead us to expect the opposite.
- Topic:
- Economics and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe
155. The 'right' Mobility Partnership between the European Union, Morocco and Tunisia
- Author:
- Anne Sofie Westh Olsen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The Mobility Partnerships between the EU and third countries do not primarily focus on migrants' rights. This is an attempt to show what the partnerships with Morocco and Tunisia should look like from a migrant's perspective.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Migration, Treaties and Agreements, Labor Issues, and Immigration
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Arab Countries, North Africa, and Tunisia
156. Diamonds and War: State, Capital, and Labor in British Ruled Palestine
- Author:
- David De Vries
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- The mining of diamonds, their trading mechanisms, their financial institutions, and, not least, their cultural expressions as luxury items have engaged the work of historians, economists, social scientists, and international relations experts. Based on previously unexamined historical documents found in archives in Belgium, England, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States, this book is the first in English to tell the story of the formation of one of the world’s main strongholds of diamond production and trade in Palestine during the 1930s and 1940s. The history of the diamond-cutting industry, characterized by a long-standing Jewish presence, is discussed as a social history embedded in the international political economy of its times; the genesis of the industry in Palestine is placed on a broad continuum within the geographic and economic dislocations of Dutch, Belgian, and German diamond-cutting centers. In providing a micro-historical and interdisciplinary perspective, the story of the diamond industry in Mandate Palestine proposes a more nuanced picture of the uncritical approach to the strict boundaries of ethnic-based occupational communities. This book unravels the Middle-eastern pattern of state intervention in the empowerment of private capital and recasts this craft culture’s inseparability from international politics during a period of war and transformation of empire.
- Topic:
- War, Military Strategy, Natural Resources, Labor Issues, State Violence, and Mining
- Political Geography:
- Britain, United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, and Palestine
157. Job quality and labour market performance
- Author:
- Christine Erhel and Mathilde Guergoat-Larivière
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Job quality is a multidimensional concept that can be defined using four main dimensions and measured through indicators such as the so-called 'Laeken' indicators. The empirical analysis of job quality in Europe leads to three main types of result. First, it reveals important differences across countries, with four main regimes prevalent in Europe. Second, it supports the hypothesis that a higher level of job quality is associated with better labour market and economic performance. Finally, it emphasises the heterogeneity of quality across social groups, especially according to gender, age, and education.
- Topic:
- Social Stratification and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe
158. Beyond Flexibility and Security: A composite indicator of flexicurity
- Author:
- Ilaria Maselli
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- 'Flexicurity' might be defined as a mix of flexible contractual arrangements, income support measures, active labour market policies and lifelong learning. The successful shift in approach of the Danish and Dutch labour markets from passive to active labour market policies, and to flexicurity, has attracted considerable attention among academics and policy-makers. The objective of this Working Document is to contribute to the debate with the creation of a composite indicator to measure flexicurity, based on the definition provided in the European Commission's Communication on Flexicurity (COM(2007)359). Our indicator confirms that preferences in the balance of flexibility and security are highly heterogeneous among countries; a finding that supports the 'pathway' approach as proposed by the European Commission. A second important conclusion is that the idea of flexibility being in favour of employers and security being in favour of employees needs to be overcome. Flexicurity is 'both for both', although it does not apply uniformly to all age groups but is two and three times greater for older and younger workers respectively.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe
159. Living Standards in an Ageing, Greener, Knowledge Economy: Towards a period of lean cows?
- Author:
- Jørgen Mortensen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- This paper provides evidence on past growth of productivity, analysing the evolution of labour productivity, capital deepening and multi-factor productivity. Based on a literature review of recent studies, it shows that economic growth is increasingly attributable to the accumulation of intangible capital and that consequently, an increasing share of conventionally measured rise in labour productivity has, in fact, been ploughed back into the economy as intangible capital formation. In addition, it shows that on average for the developed countries examined, the growth of total factor productivity has been the main determinant of the increase in living standards over the 50 years from 1960 to 2010. It also demonstrates a striking slowdown in the growth of both productivity and living standards during this period. Looking ahead, it argues that the period 2010 to 2030 is likely to see a considerable expansion of tangible and intangible capital formation and lower growth of multi-factor productivity. The paper therefore concludes that over the next 20 years the scope for growth in living standards in the developed economies will be very limited, on average around half a percent per annum, with serious consequences for social conditions and a likely aggravation of inequalities.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, Human Welfare, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe
160. Toward Institutional Innovation in US Labor Market Policy: Learning from Europe?
- Author:
- Tobias Schulze-Cleven and Henry Farrell
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
- Abstract:
- What keeps US labor market institutions from more effectively helping the nation cope with the current economic crisis and secure its future prosperity? What is the scope for politically feasible innovation in US labor market policy? These are crucial policy questions. As a result of the global financial crisis, the US unemployment rate climbed into double digits and has remained higher than in many European countries. The US is experiencing the highest level of unemployment for a generation and the highest rate of long-term unemployment for more than half a century. American families are suffering from financial hardship without any fault of their own, and many of the currently unemployed will find it hard to re-enter the workforce during the recovery. Nor is the government easily able to use current programs to help those seeking work. Even though policymakers have launched new initiatives during the past year, the US remains almost uniquely weak among advanced industrialized democracies in its lack of policy programs to support the populace in successfully engaging with the labor market.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, Labor Issues, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe