During the years 1989-1997 in Estonia, employment has decreased; unemployment and inactivity have increased. Females have tended to move to inactivity while males have become unemployed. The wage patterns are very flat relative to those in market economies. Estonia has opted for very low levels of unemployment benefits, pensions, and a low minimum…

Most deficiencies of the Hungarian labor market emerge from a combination of the transition crisis and special features of the economy or transition process. The most crucial labor market problem is low employment. Negative impacts are high taxation and social security contributions; reduced investment, job creation, and economic growth; and…

Transition to a market economy in Lithuania has changed the labor market significantly. The employment rate has decreased in all age groups and resulted in increased productivity of labor. Employment in the private sector and self employment have increased considerably. The share of those employed in agriculture has increased. The worst employment…

Romania's adoption of a more gradual approach in restructuring and privatizing the state-owned sector has resulted in industry with an unchanged structure that remains the main cause of social and economic decline. Employment has shown a steady decline. Industrial employment has decreased dramatically. Sectors like transport, hotels, and…

According to March 1991 Current Population Survey data, 64 percent of young workers in Pennsylvania aged 15-39 have no more than a high school education. Pennsylvania is at some competitive economic development disadvantage compared to the national young adult labor force because of its lower share of more educated young workers with advanced…

The moral and ethical values enunciated by America's leading religious organizations lay much of the groundwork for its major democratic institutions and establish the benchmarks by which U.S. employment conditions and policies should be measured. The public's perception of the economy's relative well-being is based on oversimplified statistical…

A factual and descriptive analysis of the employment situation in Bulgaria showed that the transition to a market economy has led to a substantial reduction of employment. The economic restructuring begun in 1990 has proved very difficult, and the privatization of the large industrial enterprises faces problems mainly due to insufficient interest…

These nine papers are from a conference held at Brookings Institution on April 3-4, 1980, focusing on subsidizing private sector job creation for workers with structural employment problems. Chapter 1 summarizes the papers and conference proceedings. The remaining nine chapters are divided into three parts consisting of three papers each. Part 1…

A policy that addresses youth unemployment with monetary expansion for similar fiscal policies is criticized as compounding the problem, and alternative solutions are offered. Accordingly, a brief look at youth labor market characteristics, pertinent labor market theory, and the present industrial distribution of employed youth is offered. A…

The literature on employment growth in the United States and selected industrialized countries and the wage, benefits, and job security characteristics of new and existing jobs were analyzed to determine how job growth and quality in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s compares to that in other industrialized countries. Among the study's…

After German unification in 1990, more than 3 million jobs disappeared in eastern Germany and the obsolescence of eastern German capital stock became apparent. Further escalation of mass unemployment was successfully held in check; however, it soon became clear that labor market policies appropriate for western Germany were not, in and of…

The application of programmable automation (PA) offers new opportunities to enhance and streamline manufacturing processes. Five PA technologies are examined in this report: computer-aided design, robots, numerically controlled machine tools, flexible manufacturing systems, and computer-integrated manufacturing. Each technology is in a relatively…

This fifteenth special report of the National Commission for Manpower Policy examines the interplay between the forces determining work schedules and the incidence and prevalence of unemployment. In the first chapter the author sets forth the major trends in hours of work and in the changing structure of the labor force that has led increasingly…

Written under a contract with the National Commission for Manpower Policy, this book contains eight chapters (each by a separate author) intended to aid in charting a national employment strategy and assessing the goal of full employment. Three main themes that pervade the book are (1) the responsibility of the federal government to create jobs,…

This second volume of a three-volume report of the National Commission for Manpower Policy on Public Service Employment (PSE) contains the interim report of the Brookings Institution to the Commission based on their onsite monitoring of the program. The report is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the report, and…