Academic literature on the topic 'Discrimination in employment – European Union countries'

The article is devoted to the study of foreign experience in legal regulation of fixed-term employment contracts. Fixed-termemployment contracts should be considered as one of the earliest and, accordingly, the oldest forms of non-standard employment. Tur -ning to the concept of the application of fixed-term employment contracts in Ukraine in the near future, it seems appropriate to consider the possibility of their further development through the prism of studying European experience. Indeed, in many European countriesthe fixed-term contracts are quite common and therefore analysis of both positive and negative examples of their legal regulation willbe useful for the future development of labour legislation in Ukraine.The article features an analysis of the relevant legislation of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Italy, Poland and France. It is concludedthat the membership of these states in the European Union has had a significant impact on the evolution of national labour le -gislation. This also applies to the United Kingdom, which had been part of this economic and political union for a long time.The transposition of EU legislation into national law by these countries predetermines the existence of common features betweenthem in the legal regulation of fixed-term employment contracts. This common features include: clear time limits of the employmentcontract, maximum allowable number of renewals enshrined in law, compliance with the principle of non-discrimination, etc.In turn, the implementation of fixed-term employment relationships in each country differs in its uniqueness, which is due to thedomestic tradition of their implementation. For example, in the United Kingdom, the dismissal of an employee due to the expiration ofthe employment contract is considered through the lens of fairness of the employer’s actions, while in Italy the number of fixed-termemployment contracts with a particular employer cannot exceed 30 %.The above circumstances should be taken into account by Ukraine when reforming labour legislation. Indeed, the need to implementCouncil Directive 1999/70/EC is clearly provided for in clauses 1139 and 1140 of the Action Plan for the implementation of theAssociation Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and theirmember states, on the other hand, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1106, of 25.10.2017.

It is argued that accessing decent work and employment is among the most effective ways of integrating people and encouraging social cohesion, and it was within this framework of understanding that, just over ten years ago, two Directives were passed: Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in accessing employment and while in work and Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin.1 The Equality Directives do more than simply locate equality issues within the workplace. They also place a particular responsibility on Member States to promote social dialogue between the social partners, employers, and trade unions to work towards the promotion of equality. This article considers the extent to which the directives have been successful in this regard through an examination of initiatives taken by Europe's trade unions to foster equal treatment. Based on a study of 130 such trade union initiatives in thirty-four European countries, selected on the basis of their significance or degree of innovation in relation to their specific country contexts, the article examines whether and in what way the principles enshrined in the directives have impact on the practices of Europe's trade unions while also considering whether their histories, geographies, policies, and practices together with their contexts of operation make the promotion of equality in all of the areas covered by the directives a challenge too far. This also at least raises the question as to whether a single framework for legal regulation can operate as an effective tool for the promotion of equality, in particular, given the responsibility of trade unions to their members, who, in periods of economic crisis, may focus on job protection measures to the exclusion of other policies.

The aim of the article is to analyse and evaluate the changes in women’s situation on the labour market of European Union countries in the years 2005–2018. The analysis focused on the economic activity of women and men and the following selected aspects of the labour market: the employment and unemployment rates and the relation between women and men’s wages. A hypothesis that women’s situation on the labour market improved, and the pay discrimination against women shrank in EU countries, has been formulated. The study utilised statistical data from the Eurostat Data Base. The evaluation of women’s situation was performed by means of a synthetic measure whose values were determined using the non-standard formula. That measure served as the basis for the linear ordering of EU countries according to the situation of women on the labour market. The study demonstrated that overall, women’s situation on the labour market improved in most EU countries in the analysed period. In all EU countries, the employment rate of women remains lower than the employment rate of men, and additionally, the former strongly varies throughout EU countries. The indicator which differentiates between the women’s and men’s labour markets to a large extent is the percentage of persons employed part-time. Part time employment is more popular in Western European countries and concerns women to a much greater extent than men. The study indicates that the levelling of women’s and men’s wages is taking place; nevertheless, women’s wages in nearly half of EU countries still do not exceed 80% of men’s average wages.

The article considers gender discrimination in the field of labor relations in the United Kingdom (UK) in the pre-covid period. In the past decades, the Western European countries have made the most significant progress in achieving gender equality in various fields, including labor relations, and became the world leader in this area. However, despite all the efforts of the international community, no country has achieved a full gender equality, and Great Britain is no exception. The authors argue that the British anti-discrimination legislation (before leaving the European Union) was based on international acts and conventions. For a long time, there were acts and laws prohibiting discrimination in the labor market, which seriously hindered the implementation of an effective anti-discrimination policy in the sphere of labor relations. It was not until 2010 that the law on equality was passed to replace all previous laws and regulations and to provide an exhaustive list of criteria for prohibiting discrimination. As a result, Great Britain began to develop a rather strict national anti-discrimination legislation in the field of labor relations. Thus, in the past decades, the UK has been achieving gender equality in the economic sphere at a faster pace than the average European Union country. The study shows a steady decline in the gender wage gap in the UK over the past two decades, which may be considered one of the countrys most significant achievements in fighting gender discrimination in the labor market. However, there is still a number of serious challenges: a relatively low female labor force participation and employment rate, a gender wage gap and income gap, horizontal and vertical segregation, a gender gap in postgraduate education, and a significant gender gap in time spent on family responsibilities. Age discrimination presents a special problem in the sphere of labor relations in Great Britain. In the European Union, the first laws prohibiting age discrimination were adopted only in the 2000s, and in the UK - in 2006. This problem still remains extremely acute for the labor market, since age discrimination in the UK ranks third among the most common grounds for discrimination - after gender and disability.

The number of women in the world labour force is growing. Nevertheless, in spite of women's large share in the labour force, many gender inequities in the labour market, such as gender specific jobs, pay inequities are observed. Women and men do not receive equal pay for equal work. Wage discrimination is reality. Women on average have lower incomes, lower wages and less advantageous terms of employment than men. The purpose of this article is to review main theoretical approaches to the basic economic question about the gender pay gap: why do, women, on average earn less than men. Attention has been focused on basic theoretical approaches: human capital model, labour market discrimination and theory of occupational segregation. The paper is based on empirical data from Lithuania and other European Union countries.

The article is devoted to the analysis of key social and economic problems in the EU countries during the initial period of the pandemic. Forced isolation amid the spread of the coronavirus contributed to the growth of domestic and domestic violence, manifestations of racism and xenophobia in the EU. Social discrimination manifested itself in the restriction of access to goods and services for people with Asian appearance. A negative factor was the statements of certain right-wing politicians, as well as a number of media outlets. The member states of the European Union sought to carry out proactive communication with the population of their countries, convincing the latter to use exclusively official information about the situation with the COVID 19 virus and taking steps to ensure the widespread presence of the opinion of the governance in the media and on the Internet. Due to the extraordinary circumstances, EU member states have resumed controls at their internal borders in an effort to ensure the safety of their citizens. Despite assurances from the European Commission that the restrictions would not affect the interests of the EU population and third-country nationals, in March 2020, tangible obstacles arose in the way of realizing the fundamental right to free movement. The first steps were taken to support the sectors of the economy and the employment market in the initial phase of the pandemic. Particular attention was paid to the state of affairs in the most vulnerable service sector. The employment market experienced serious shocks, which was reflected in the growth of unemployment in the EU countries. The measures taken by the authorities of the member states, in general, met the interests of workers, but encountered difficulties in the course of implementation.

The article is devoted to the study of legal regulation of migration control, security, legal regulation of asylum, integration of immigrants, etc. in EU countries, as well as its generalization and identification of stages of development of suchregulation. It is established that, in general, there are four such stages: 1) from the beginning of the formation of the European Community to the end of the 1960s; kin. 60’s - 70’s of the XX century .; 80 years of the twentieth century. - zero years of theXI century; 4) since the 10 years of the XI century. It was established that at the first stage of the formation of the European Community migration policy was not relevant in the legal regulation. It is researched that the beginning of the second stage is connected with the adoption in 1968 of the Regulation «On freedom of movement of workers within the community», which aimed to create incentives for mobility and flexibility of labor migrationwithin European education. This Regulation provides for the elimination of any discrimination on grounds of nationality between workers of the Member States in respect of employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment. It was determined that in the third stage migration of economic-social migration was transferred to the sphere of politics. An important factor in the politicization of migration has been the use of an asylum institute for immigration purposes as an alternative way of economic immigration to EU countries. This period is characterized by the interstate cooperation of European countries within the framework of the Task Force on Immigration (Trevi) and the Schengen Group, as well as with functional organizations such as the police, the Schengen Agreement on the free crossing of borders between the participating countries and the abolition of border controls in Maastricht the definition of migration, asylum and refugees became part of theThird Pillar and the Treaty of Amsterdam, where sections of the Third Pillar concerning immigration, asylum and refugees as were komunitaryzovani.It is concluded that the European Union countries are in the fourth stage of the development of legal regulation of migration control, which began with the migration crisis of 2014-2015, but has not yet been resolved with the problems and challengesfaced by the participating countries.

The article is devoted to the study of the problems of discrimination, its manifestations in the field of labor relations in today's conditions. Because at the current stage of development and formation of Ukraine, the problems of discrimination are gaining great importance and require additional research. Today, the main problem of discrimination in Ukraine is its widespread form of manifestation, which consists in gender inequality in the field of employment and job search. Domestic legislation, international documents, as well as the views of scientists who were engaged in the study of this problem were analyzed. It is noted that discrimination in the field of labor is unequal opportunities for employees endowed with equal productivity, or unequal treatment of them by employers, society and the state; this is a deliberate restriction of the rights of the subjects of social and labor relations, which blocks their access to equal opportunities in the labor market. It was concluded that the adoption of legislative acts aimed at preventing discrimination in the field of employment (Laws of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Strengthening the Protection of Workers' Rights" dated 05.12.2022 No. 2253-IX, "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the optimization of labor relations" dated 01.07.2022 No. 2352-IX) will contribute to bringing domestic legislation into line with the legislation of the European Union, the practice of the International Labor Organization and will have a positive impact on the market environment. Since, as the experience of developed countries shows, non-discrimination contributes not only to the establishment of democratic principles and respect for human rights, but also has a positive impact on social and economic relations in society, allows more efficient use of human resources, and ensures stability. Especially today, when Ukrainian society has faced new challenges. In such an extremely difficult time, the field of labor legislation more than ever needs adaptation, and therefore, the introduction of appropriate changes.

The article examines the European experience of considering disputes in the field of social security, the ways of their prevention, the essence and methods of resolution, the possibility of borrowing positive assets of foreign states in the law enforcement practice of Ukraine is considered. Having analyzed the European experience of resolving disputes in the field of social security, three ways of their possible settlement are distinguished: 1) with the help of special courts on social security issues (sectoral justice); 2) through a civil process in general courts; 3) by means of conciliation and arbitration procedures. It was determined that a social model has developed in European countries, which is based on such values ​​common to all EU member states, such as: a close connection between the level of economic development and social progress; high level of social security, which is universal in nature; developed legislation; equal opportunities and fight against discrimination; production democracy; dialogue of social partners within the framework of contractual relations; availability of developed social infrastructure; the key role of the state in solving social problems; the struggle for employment and eradication of the phenomenon of social rejection and poverty; decent salary; social justice and solidarity in society. These basic values ​​also formed the basis of consideration and resolution of disputes in the field of social security. The listed values ​​should form the foundation of the Ukrainian theory and practice of social disputes. It was determined that the national specifics and practice of each European state provide for the use of various methods of resolving social disputes with recourse to social courts, reconciliation services, mediation, arbitration and mediation. The activity of social courts is based on the principles of tripartite cooperation (tripartism). Court cases are considered by a panel consisting of a professional judge and two non-professional judges. In addition, state mediation and mediation are effective measures for the pre-trial resolution of social disputes in the EU countries. They contribute to the relief of the judicial system, saving time and financial resources of the parties to the dispute. These institutions are little known for Ukraine and, at the same time, promising.

The first part of the article briefly covers the history of immigration to France, social conflicts associated with migrants, and the results of French research on discrimination of immigrants in employment. In spite of the high unemployment rate, compared with other European Union countries, France remains one of the centres of migration and receives a significant number of migrants and refugees every year. The origins of immigration to France go back to the mid-19th century. Initially, it was mainly for political reasons, in order to find a job or receive an education. Between the First and the Second World Wars, France accepted both political (e.g. from Russia, Germany and Spain) and labour migrants (from Africa and Indo-China). After World War II, the French government actively invited labour migrants from the French colonies, primarily, from North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco). When the Algerian War ended, the Harkis – Algerians who served in the French Army – found refuge in France. By the late 1960s, the Moroccan and Tunisian communities were formed. Up to the 1980s, labour migration was predominant. However, with time, the share of refugees and those who wanted to move to France with their families started to increase. This caused a growing social and political tension in French society resulting in conflicts (e.g. the 2005 riots in Paris). Moreover, the numerous terrorist attacks and the migration crisis of 2014–2016 had a particularly negative impact on the attitude towards migrants. All these issues have to a certain extent affected the employment of the Muslim population in France.

Award date: 1 December 2005
Supervisor: M. A. Moreau
In this thesis I propose to examine the effectiveness of the non-discrimination legislative framework now in place at the European level as a tool for achieving fairness and a decent standard of living for people with disabilities. With this aim in mind, the first section of the thesis will examine what factors led the Union to frame its work in the promotion of disability rights and how current anti-discrimination legislation emerged as a result. Section two goes on to examine the relationship between equality and disability and how the notion of equality can be applied to disability discrimination. Section three is dedicated to an analysis of the Framework Directive and its effectiveness in ensuring protection and rights for people with disabilities in the labour market. Finally section four examines the potential of the most innovative part of the Directive for people with disabilities, the concept of reasonable accommodation, which has been introduced to EU law for the first time by Article 5 of the Directive.

This thesis focuses on the industry wage differentials, rent-sharing and the gender wage gap. I empirically investigate: i) the interaction between inter-industry wage differentials and the gender wage gap in six European countries, ii) how rent sharing interacts with the gender wage gap in the Belgian private sector and iii) the existence of inter-industry wage differentials in Belgium, through the unobserved ability hypothesis.

The first chapter is devoted to the analysis of the interaction between inter-industry wage differentials and the gender wage gap in six European countries, i.e. Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. To do so, we have relied on a unique harmonised matched employer-employee data set, the 1995 European Structure of Earnings Survey. As far as we know, this paper is the first to analyse with recent techniques, on a comparable basis, and from a European perspective: i) inter-industry wage differentials by gender, ii) gender wage gaps by industry, and iii) the contribution of industry effects to the overall gender wage gap. It is also one of the few, besides Kahn (1998), to analyse for both sexes the relationship between collective bargaining characteristics and the dispersion of industry wage differentials.

Empirical findings show that, in all countries and for both sexes, wage differentials exist between workers employed in different sectors, even when controlling for working conditions, individual and firm characteristics. We also find that the hierarchy of sectors in terms of wages is quite similar for male and female workers and across countries. Yet, the apparent similarity between male and female industry wage differentials is challenged by standard statistical tests. Indeed, simple t-tests show that between 43 and 71% of the industry wage disparities are significantly different for women and men. Moreover, Chow tests indicate that sectoral wage differentials are significantly different as a group for both sexes in all countries. Regarding the dispersion of the industry wage differentials, we find that results vary for men and women, although not systematically nor substantially. Yet, the dispersion of industry wage differentials fluctuates considerably across countries. It is quite large in Ireland, Italy and the U.K. and relatively moderate in Belgium, Denmark and Spain. For both sexes, results point to the existence of a negative and significant relationship between the degree of centralisation of collective bargaining and the dispersion of industry wage differentials.

Furthermore, independently of the country considered, results show that more than 80% of the gender wage gaps within industries are statistically significant. The average industry gender wage gap ranges between -.18 in the U.K. and -.11 in Belgium. This means that on average women have an inter-industry wage differential of between 18 and 11% below that for men. Yet, correlation coefficients between the industry gender wage gaps across countries are relatively small and often statistically insignificant. This finding suggests that industries with the highest and the lowest gender wage gaps vary substantially across Europe.

Finally, results indicate that the overall gender wage gap, measured as the difference between the mean log wages of male and female workers, fluctuates between .18 in Denmark and .39 in the U.K. In all countries a significant (at the .01 level) part of this gap can be explained by the segregation of women in lower paying industries. Yet, the relative contribution of this factor to the gender wage gap varies substantially among European countries. It is close to zero in Belgium and Denmark, between 7 and 8% in Ireland, Spain and the U.K. and around 16% in Italy. Differences in industry wage premia for male and female workers significantly (at the .05 level) affect the gender wage gap in Denmark and Ireland only. In these countries, gender differences in industry wage differentials account for respectively 14 and 20% of the gender wage gap. To sum up, findings show that combined industry effects explain around 29% of the gender wage gap in Ireland, respectively 14 and 16% in Denmark and Italy, around 7% in the U.K. and almost nothing in Belgium and Spain.

In conclusion, our results emphasize that the magnitude of the gender wage gap as well as its causes vary substantially among the European countries. This suggests that no single policy instrument will be sufficient to tackle gender pay inequalities in Europe. Our findings indicate that policies need to be tailored to the very specific context of the labour market in each country.

The second chapter examines investigates how rent sharing interacts with the gender wage gap in the Belgian private sector. Empirical findings show that individual gross hourly wages are significantly and positively related to firm profits-per-employee even when controlling for group effects in the residuals, individual and firm characteristics, industry wage differentials and endogeneity of profits. Our instrumented wage-profit elasticity is of the magnitude 0.06 and it is not significantly different for men and women. Of the overall gender wage gap (on average women earn 23.7% less than men), results show that around 14% can be explained by the fact that on average women are employed in firms where profits-per-employee are lower. Thus, findings suggest that a substantial part of the gender wage gap is attributable to the segregation of women is less profitable firms.

The third and final chapter contributes to the understanding of inter-industry wage differentials in Belgium, taking advantage of access to a unique matched employer-employee data set covering the period 1995-2002. Findings show the existence of large and persistent wage differentials among workers with the same observed characteristics and working conditions, employed in different sectors. The unobserved ability hypothesis may not be rejected on the basis of Martins’ (2004) methodology. However, its contribution to the observed industry wage differentials appears to be limited. Further results show that ceteris paribus workers earn significantly higher wages when employed in more profitable firms. The instrumented wage-profit elasticity stands at 0.063. This rent-sharing phenomenon accounts for a large fraction of the industry wage differentials. We find indeed that the magnitude, dispersion and significance of industry wage differentials decreases sharply when controlling for profits.

Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

In the first chapter of this thesis, we investigate the impact of human capital and wage structure on the gender pay in a panel of European countries using a newly available and appropriate database for cross-country comparisons and a comparable methodology for each country.

Our first question is :What role do certain individual characteristics and choices of working men and women play in shaping the cross-country differences in the gender pay gap? What is the exact size of the gender pay gap using the “more appropriate” database available for our purpose? Giving that there are mainly only two harmonized data-sets for comparing gender pay gap throughout Europe: the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) and the European Structure of Earning Survey (ESES). Each database having its shortages: the main weakness of the ECHP is the lack of perfect reliability of the data in general and of wages in particular. However the main advantage of this database is the panel-data dimension and the information on both households and individuals. The data of the ESES is, on the contrary, of a very high standard but it only covers the private sector and has a cross-sectional dimension. Furthermore only few countries are currently available :Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Italy.

We use the European Structure of Earning Survey (ESES) to analyse international differences in gender pay gaps in the private sector based on a sample of five European economies: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Using different methods, we examine how wage structures, differences in the distribution of measured characteristics and occupational segregation contribute to and explain the pattern of international differences. Furthermore, we take account of the fact that indirect discrimination may influence female occupational distributions. We find these latter factors to have a significant impact on gender wage differentials. However, the magnitude of their effect varies across countries.

In the second chapter, we analyse the persistence of the gender pay differentials over time in Europe and better test the productivity hypothesis by taking into account unobserved heterogeneity.

Our second question is :What is the evolution of the pay differential between men and women over a period of time in Europe? And what is the impact of unobserved heterogeneity?

The researcher here provides evidence on the effects of unobserved individual heterogeneity on estimated gender pay differentials. Using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), we present a cross-country comparison of the evolution of unadjusted and adjusted gender pay gaps using both cross-section and panel-data estimation techniques. The analysed countries differ greatly with respect to labour market legislation, bargaining practices structure of earnings and female employment rates. On adjusting for unobserved heterogeneity, we find a narrowed male-female pay differential, as well as significantly different rates of return on individual characteristics. In particularly, the adjusted wage differential decreases by 7 per cent in Belgium, 14 per cent in Ireland, between 20-30 per cent Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain and of 41 per cent and 54 per cent in the UK and in Denmark respectively.

In the third chapter, we investigate causes of the gender pay gap beyond the gender differences in observed and unobserved productive characteristics or simply the sex. Explanations of the gender pay gap may be the penalty women face for having children. Obviously, the motherhood wage penalty is relevant to larger issues of gender inequality given that most women are mothers and that childrearing remains a women’s affair. Thus, any penalty associated with motherhood but not with fatherhood affects many women and as such contributes to gender inequalities as the gender pay gap. Furthermore, the motherhood wage effect may be different along the wage distribution as women with different earnings may not be equal in recognising opportunities to reconcile their mother’s and earner’s role. This brings us to our third question.

Our third question is :What is the wage effect for mothers of young children in the household? And does it vary along the wage distribution of women?

This chapter provides more insight into the effect of the presence of young children on women’s wages. We use individual data from the ECHP (1996-2001) and both a generalised linear model (GLM) and quantile regression (QR) techniques to estimate the wage penalty/bonus associated with the presence of children under the age of sixteen for mothers in ten EU Member States. We also correct for potential selection bias using the Heckman (1979) correction term in the GLM (at the mean) and a selectivity correction term in the quantile regressions. To distinguish between mothers according to their age at the time of their first birth, wage estimations are carried out, separately, for mothers who had their first child before the age of 25 (‘young mothers’) and mothers who had their first child after the age of 25 (‘old mothers’). Our results suggest that on average young mothers earn less than non-mothers while old mothers obtain a gross wage bonus in all countries. These wage differentials are mainly due to differences in human capital, occupational segregation and, to a lesser extent, sectoral segregation between mothers and non-mothers. This overall impact of labour market segregation, suggests a “crowding” explanation of the family pay gap – pay differential between mothers and non-mothers. Nevertheless, the fact that we still find significant family pay gaps in some countries after we control for all variables of our model suggests that we cannot reject the “taste-based” explanation of the family gap in these countries. Our analysis of the impact of family policies on the family pay gap across countries has shown that parental leave and childcare policies tend to decrease the pay differential between non-mothers and mothers. Cash and tax benefits, on the contrary, tend to widen this pay differential. Sample selection also affects the level of the mother pay gap at the mean and throughout the wage distribution in most countries. Furthermore, we find that in most countries inter-quantile differences in pay between mothers and non-mothers are mainly due to differences in human-capital. Differences in their occupational and sectoral segregation further shape these wage differentials along the wage distribution in the UK, Germany and Portugal in our sample of young mothers and in Spain in the sample of old mothers.

In the fourth chapter, we analyse the combined effect of motherhood and the family status on women’s wage.

Our fourth question is :Is there a lone motherhood pay gap in Europe? And does it vary along the wage distribution of mothers?

Substantial research has been devoted to the analysis of poverty and income gaps between households of different types. The effects of family status on wages have been studied to a lesser extent. In this chapter, we present a selectivity corrected quantile regression model for the lone motherhood pay gap – the differential in hourly wage between lone mothers and those with partners. We used harmonized data from the European Community Household Panel and present results for a panel of European countries. We found evidence of lone motherhood penalties and bonuses. In our analysis, most countries presented higher wage disparities at the top of the wage distribution rather than at the bottom or at the mean. Our results suggest that cross-country differences in the lone motherhood pay gap are mainly due to differences in observed and unobserved characteristics between partnered mothers and lone mothers, differences in sample selection and presence of young children in the household. We also investigated other explanations for these differences such as the availability and level of childcare arrangements, the provision of gender-balanced leave and the level of child benefits and tax incentives. As expected, we have found significant positive relationship between the pay gap between lone and partnered mothers and the childcare, take-up and cash and tax benefits policies. Therefore improving these family policies would reduce the raw pay gap observed.

Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

L'emploi informel est devenu un sérieux défi pour l'économie ukrainienne et des pays en transition au cours de l'adaptation aux conditions du marché. La tendance du nombre de travailleurs qui participent au secteur informel est en hausse depuis les dernières années. Dans mes recherches, je vais présenter l'état actuel de l'emploi informel en Ukraine et les pays en transition. Une attention particulière est accordée à la répartition du travail entre les différentes catégories de population, en divisant les individus en cinq catégories (employés formels, employés informels, travailleurs indépendants formels, travailleurs indépendants informels et chômeurs) selon la définition de l'emploi informel de l'OIT. Nous examinons le marché du travail en utilisant les données de Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey pour l'Ukraine et Survey on Living and Income Conditions pour les pays en transition et nous élaborons la fonction des gains du capital humain pour le marché du travail en appliquant la fonction de répartition des gains de Mincer, afin d'étudier les facteurs qui déterminent les revenus et le choix de l'emploi de l'individu en Ukraine et les pays en transition
Informal employment became a serious challenge for the Ukrainian economy and economy of transition countries during the adjustment to market conditions. Trends of the number of workers participating in the informal sector have been rising for the last years. In my research I will present the current state of informal employment of Ukraine and transition countries. Detailed attention is paid to labour distribution across different population categories by dividing the individuals into five categories (formal employee, informal employee, formal self-employed, informal self-employed and unemployed) following the definition of informal employment from the ILO. We examine labour market using the data of the Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for Ukraine and the Survey on Living and Income Conditions for transition countries and we design human capital earnings function for labour market by applying Mincer earnings distribution function in order to investigate the factors that determine the individual’s earnings and choice of the employment status both for Ukraine and transition countries

Defence date: 14 December 2007
Examining board: Professor Colin Crouch, University of Warwick (EUI Supervisor); Professor Ramón Ramos Torre, Universidad Complutense; Professor Martin Rhodes, University of Denver; Professor Jelle Visser, Universiteit van Amsterdam
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
A large part of the literature on part-time employment stresses that this form of employment contract is the result of employers’ strategies and female employees who need to reconcile work and family life. However, the growth in the number of employees sharing employment and other paid or unpaid interests expands the range and significance of working-time issues. This dissertation claims that where regulation and implementation of working-time transitions are favourable to part-time employment, part-time is likely to expand to more diverse categories of workers than those for whom it was originally intended ( i.e. mothers with caring responsibilities). The research follows a case-oriented comparative approach that draws on documentary information and a total of 48 in-depth interviews with actors’ representatives at three levels: national, sector (education and local government) and organizational, in the UK, the Netherlands and Spain. Initiated in different moments in time, the regulation of working-time transitions appears to follow a similar staged path in the three countries, although the wider institutional context affecting part-time and the active support of main actors varies for each country, especially at the organizational level. In the Dutch case, part-time regulation started off as a mechanism to enable the employment of women with caring responsibilities and, from there, it evolved towards a wider understanding of workingtime flexibility, extending the right to work part-time to other categories of employees. Given the pioneering role of the Netherlands in this area, it could be argued that both the UK and Spain have been following the Dutch example although with different degrees of success. In the Netherlands, after two decades of active support to part-time, there is still a big gender gap among part-timers, and in many sectors and occupations employees face difficulties to change their working hours; still, the general trend seems to be that access to part-time is becoming easier at more sector and occupational levels, in a context where organizations, already facing short full-time working weeks and high percentages of part-time, have been learning to decouple business hours from the different duration of the employees’ shifts. The need to design clear-cut coordination mechanisms that guarantee the steadiness of the service and the 'standardisation' of handing-over procedures, have helped to accept a variety of working-time arrangements. This capacity to dissociate organisations’ operative time from employees’ working hours is also present in British and Spanish 24-hour services, what has favoured exceptional good part-time jobs. However, the political efforts to promote part-time in Spain and the UK are confronted with serious obstacles, their segmented labour forces among them. The long-hours culture in both Spain and the UK, together with the high proportion of temporary contracts in the Spanish case, are the most visible signs of the structural difficulties these two countries face to achieve working-time flexi-curity. In the three countries, there are no clear links between long hours and productivity levels, and the processess that lead to more transparent assessments of work performance seem to facilitate working-time flexibility beyond standard full-time employment contracts. Certainly, different commitments and compromises need to be achieved between conflicting demands and interests about how employees use their own time, but this thesis argues that part-time may help to soften the conflicts between the specialization and hierarchy requirements of the social division of labour and individuals’ time-use autonomy.

Defence date: 27 April 2021
Examining Board: Professor Claire Kilpatrick (European University Institute); Professor Ruth Rubio Marín (Universidad de Sevilla); Professor Sophie Robin-Olivie (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Professor Annick Masselot (University of Canterbury)
Gender equality is a complex and debated concept; feminist scholarship and legal philosophy still struggle to define this notion. The EU context is no exception, as within the European project and literature, conceptions of gender equality have fluctuated. Existing literature has only given limited accounts of the different meanings of gender equality and has failed to identify the variables and reasons for this fluctuation in EU policy and case-law. In order to fill this gap, the present thesis takes onboard the challenge to uncover how the meaning of gender equality has shifted in the EU, across time, policy field and institutions. It starts by developing a theoretical frame which distinguishes between the possible aims of gender equality policy and the legal strategies employed by gender equality policy. It then applies this frame to four decades of EU policy regarding work and care, from 1980 to 2020, and questions to which extent these different gender equality conceptions and strategies have served the aim of women’s emancipation, assessing their effect on the gendered division of care and on the provision of social protection. The thesis shows that the main variable of fluctuation of gender equality conceptions has been the policy issue at stake: while the EU has employed formal equality in certain areas of law, it has been more prone to allow for substantive strategies for equality in others, depending on political priorities and opportunities. The conclusion explains these findings and reflects on the political conveniences of gender equality conceptions. It makes a theoretical, political and normative contribution to existing literature and debates concerning gender equality in the EU and gives directions for future gender equality policy.

The thesis investigates the role of structural rigidities in recent labour market performances in Europe through various and complementary angles in five essays. By structural rigidities, we mean a lasting feature caused by a set of institutions, which prevents a market from operating efficiently. The approach is essentially empirical and macro-economic, while the scope of the analysis is definitely European, which is technically reflected in the use of either euro area aggregates or panels and cross-sections of European countries.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
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The general focus of this thesis is on how the family, work and the welfare system are intertwined. A major determinant is the way responsibilities are shared by the state, the market and civil society in different welfare state regimes. An introductory chapter will therefore be dedicated to the development of the social dimension in the process of European integration. A first chapter will then go deeper into the comparative analysis of welfare state regimes, to comment on the provision of welfare in societies with a different mix of state, market and societal welfare roles and to assess the adequacy of existing typologies as reflections of today’s changed socio-economic, political and gender reality. Although they stand strong on their own, these first two chapters also contribute to contextualising the research subject of the remainder of the thesis: the study and comparison of the differential situation of women and men and of mothers and non-mothers on the labour markets of the EU-15 countries as well as of the role of public policies with respect to the employment penalties faced by women, particularly in the presence of young children. In our analysis, employment penalties are understood in three ways: (i) the difference in full-time equivalent employment rates between mothers and non-mothers, (ii) the wage penalty associated with motherhood, and (iii) the wage gap between part-time and full-time workers, considering men and women separately. Besides from a gender point of view, employment outcomes and public policies are thus assessed comparatively for mothers and non-mothers. Because women choose to take part in paid employment, fertility rates will depend on their possibilities to combine employment and motherhood. As a result, motherhood-induced employment penalties and the role of public policies to tackle them should be given priority attention, not just by scholars, but also by politicians and policy-makers.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

La non-discrimination est une notion en constante évolution. Elle se doit d’être réceptive aux nouvelles formes discriminatoires vécues par les travailleurs afin de garantir un niveau de protection juridique conforme aux exigences internationales et nationales. En ce sens, les discriminations multiples sont un parfait exemple. Il s’agit de situations dans lesquelles interviennent et interagissent plusieurs motifs prohibés. Or, le concept de discriminations multiples, issu des sciences sociales, n’est théorisé en droit que depuis les années 1980. Si elles sont inconnues du droit positif, la doctrine et la pratique tendent à souligner la nécessité de leur reconnaissance juridique. Saisies par le droit du travail, elles posent de nombreuses questions quant à leur définition et leur mise en oeuvre. Leur étude va permettre de délivrer une approche différente de l’exigence de non-discrimination en droit du travail mais également des objectifs de diversité en entreprise
Anti-discrimination law is always evolving. It must be receptive to new types of discrimination against workers to guarantee a level of legal protection consistent with international and national standards. In that sense, multiple discriminations are a perfect example. They take place when several protected characteristics occur and interact with each other. The concept of multiple discriminations arises from social sciences but has only been legally theorized since the 80s. If French law does not consider them, jurisprudence and practice tends to underline the necessity of a legal acknowledgment. Seized by employment law, multiple discriminations pose many questions with regard to their definition and implementation. Nonetheless, studying them offers a different approach to the duty to not discriminate at work, and to insuring diversity in the workplace

The article analyses European Union anti-discrimination law development in Member States and differences between protected grounds of discrimination. On this basis, the analysis covers recognition of the social complexity, internationalization and discrimination of foreigners for different grounds. The process of internationalization and migration, covering social, political, economical, cultural, legal processes, the non-discriminatory protection of a foreigner as a member of the society has become complicated, when attempting not to discriminate people arriving from the other countries and to have equal possibilities. The problems of discrimination are valid and significant for the civil society itself. The article also discusses the concept of multiple discrimination in European Union anti-discrimination law, legal regulation and protection against multiple discrimination in Europe and separate legal regulation of the Member States. This article argues that internationalization processes bring new approaches of interpretation of European Union employment equality law and contemporary challenges, introduces recent cases of equal treatment of employees during employment at private companies.

According to the general theory, it is recognized that exports increase employment. Recently, in the world economy, increasing unemployment, foreign trade of the impact on employment has led to new research. Many of the aforementioned studies validating the theory, some of them have different results. In recent studies in Turkey was a different result. In this study, Turkey and the European Union countries in terms of trade effect on employment will be examined. For this purpose, employment and foreign trade data for the years 2000-2012 using a panel data analysis will be done. Exports, imports, wages, and production depending on the change in employment and the interaction will be investigated. Depending on available data at the sectoral level, there will be a distinction. Especially in the last ten years, the recession and rise in unemployment in Europe will be discussed with the relevant dynamics. In Turkey, the current account deficit, growth, unemployment issues are noteworthy. European Union accession process, Turkey and the European Union countries in the comparison will be significant in the economic indicators.

Due to the imperfect functioning of labour markets in certain cases, State aid may be an appropriate instrument for creating new jobs and preserving existing ones. Legal regulation of the issue of State aid is an element of the competition mechanism protection, which was recognized in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This paper discusses guidelines for implementation of art. 107–109 of the TFEU, from the point of view of State aid for employment. Statistical analysis was carried out on State aid granted by EU Member States in the period 2001–2018 – from the perspective of its impact on competitiveness of these countries. This should lead to verify the thesis that the amount of State aid granted by EU Member States for employment should be positively correlated with the size of the GDP per capita of these countries.

In modern conditions, developed market economies base their growth and development on the small and medium enterprises sector and entrepreneurship, as the most efficient segment of the economy, which pro­vides the greatest contribution to employment, GDP and turnover. Since SMEs significantly contribute to employment, competitiveness and exports, developed countries have taken a systematic and organized approach to encourage their development and successful functioning. Following the ex­ample of developed countries, developing countries, are increasingly basing their economic growth and development on the SME sector. In the Republic of Serbia, at the beginning of the 21st century, institutional changes were implemented, which resulted in the improvement of the business environ­ment and significant progress in building a system for encouraging and supporting the development of SMEs. The paper aims to, through compar­ative analysis, explain the development of the SME sector in the Republic of Serbia and the European Union.

The formation and existence of degraded areas is one of the consequences of civilization, which has a negative impact on both the environment and economic development in the municipality. The problem of degraded areas has been faced by all countries worldwide, including Latvia, when as a result of the change of the state political system in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet system, a large number of inactive production companies appeared, resulting in a significant number of polluted / degraded areas. To solve the existing problem, local governments in Latvia use European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding under the Operational Program ‘Growth and Employment’ 5.6.2, specific support objective ‘Revitalization of territories by regenerating degraded areas in accordance with local government integrated development programs’ (SSO 5.6.2) to ensure the sustainable development of the territory by revitalizing degraded areas. In the implementation of projects, local governments must ensure the fulfilment of the indicators planned in the projects in the following groups of indicators: the area of degraded areas has been renewed, adapted for the location of new businesses or expansion of existing businesses in order to promote employment and economic activity in local governments; new jobs created in supported areas; non-financial investments made by businesses located in the supported territory in their own intangible investments and fixed assets. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the indicators of the implemented projects in order to be able to draw conclusions about the financial aspects of the project implementation and the progress of the project implementation.

The paper presents the results of the analysis of NUTS 2 regions with a focus on the regions of Visegrad countries. The aim is to assess the level of development of the regions in the area of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) in relation to their economic level and position within the regions of the EU. The division of regions into groups was based on the clustering method, including Ward's method for determining the number of groups. Furthermore, the correlation between employment shares in KIBS and the level of economic development of the regions was examined. The resulting data confirms a statistically significant dependence between GDP per capita and the aggregate indicator of employment share in KIBS, especially in the sub-areas of knowledge market services and high-technology services.

The Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are a necessary element of the social and economic development of the national economy from the perspective of their significant contribution to employment, innovative capacity, and flexibility. Innovative SMEs are necessary building block in the restructuring of transition economies. The successful reformers of the Central and Eastern Europe countries can promote policies conducive to the development of innovative SMEs, and consequently benefit from the economic advantages of SMEs. However, the majority of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries are lagging behind significantly. This paper gives the analytical description of the development of SMEs in post-socialist countries during the transition process within the framework of the market reforms. The main barriers to growth of SMEs with innovation capacity are the institutional environment, and the inadequate attitude of the government towards small companies. The countries which integrated to European Union been able to overcome these barriers considerably, while the CIS countries do not have a record of significant achievement in this area.

Today, the European Union aims to integrate young people into the labour market and provide employment support. However, youth unemployment figures in the European Union are very serious. In addition to youth unemployment, NEET (Not in Education, Employment and Training) rates, which we hear frequently today and which is closely related to youth unemployment, have high rates both in the European Union and in Turkey. If these two main problems that countries have to deal with are not successful, they will impose serious costs on countries both socially and economically. Although education policies are often used for the solution, factors such as gender perception and patriarchal social structure must be left behind. In addition, strong economic growth should not be ignored to combat the problems of the young unemployed. The first aim of the study is to examine the factors that cause young unemployed and NEETs in the EU and Turkey at the macro and micro level and to present them comparatively. The second aim of the study is to empirically analyse Okun's Law, which argues that there is a negative correlation between unemployment and economic growth, for young unemployed and NEETs in Turkey between 2000 and 2020. The data used in the study was obtained from the OECD and Eurostat databases. The empirical findings obtained as a result of causality analysis show that there is a one-way relationship between economic growth, youth unemployment and NEETs.

National law is affected by a number of different international regulations and agreements. International agreements provide for rules aimed at harmonizing certain requirements and understandings that different countries should follow. In labour relations, international standards are set at two different levels – on the one hand, by the International Labour Organization (ILO), and on the other by regional standards – by the Council of Europe and the directives and regulations adopted by the European Union. All these international rules have important implications for national labour law. However, such international norms do not provide a clear personal scope – that is, it is not clearly defined to whom such international norms apply. Although the various international rules do not directly define the persons to whom those norms apply, – the implementation of international rules remains a matter for national law. Thus, the concept of both employee and employment relationship is shaped by national law. The exception here is the European Union, where the European Court of Justice has given an autonomous meaning to the concept of worker (particularly in the context of freedom of movement for workers). Although the concept of a worker and of an employment relationship has been developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union, Member States retain the right to define the employment relationship in accordance with the law in force in the respective Member State. The main factor in shaping employment relationships is the employee's dependence on the person providing the work, and the person providing the work also has an obligation to pay remuneration for the work performed. Although the scope of those rules is defined differently by different international rules, the characteristics generally applicable to the definition of an employee and the employment relationship are similar to those used in national law.

The main objective of the following paper is to present the Environmental Goods and Services Sector (EGSS) in European Union countries. The Environmental Goods and Services Sector is one of the modules of environmental economic accounts, as satellite accounts in relation to national accounts. The first part of the paper gives an overiew of EGSS definitions and classifications. In second part, the comparison between the EGSS variables in certain EU countries was made. The output, export and employment of the Environmental Goods and Services System were analyzed. The data is presented by environmental protection domains and natural resources managements domains, as well as by economic activity.

In the second quarter, annual inflation (9.67%), the technical staff’s projections and its expectations continued to increase, remaining above the target. International cost shocks, accentuated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have been more persistent than projected, thus contributing to higher inflation. The effects of indexation, higher than estimated excess demand, a tighter labor market, inflation expectations that continue to rise and currently exceed 3%, and the exchange rate pressures add to those described above. High core inflation measures as well as in the producer price index (PPI) across all baskets confirm a significant spread in price increases. Compared to estimates presented in April, the new forecast trajectory for headline and core inflation increased. This was partly the result of greater exchange rate pressure on prices, and a larger output gap, which is expected to remain positive for the remainder of 2022 and which is estimated to close towards yearend 2023. In addition, these trends take into account higher inflation rate indexation, more persistent above-target inflation expectations, a quickening of domestic fuel price increases due to the correction of lags versus the parity price and higher international oil price forecasts. The forecast supposes a good domestic supply of perishable foods, although it also considers that international prices of processed foods will remain high. In terms of the goods sub-basket, the end of the national health emergency implies a reversal of the value-added tax (VAT) refund applied to health and personal hygiene products, resulting in increases in the prices of these goods. Alternatively, the monetary policy adjustment process and the moderation of external shocks would help inflation and its expectations to begin to decrease over time and resume their alignment with the target. Thus, the new projection suggests that inflation could remain high for the second half of 2022, closing at 9.7%. However, it would begin to fall during 2023, closing the year at 5.7%. These forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty, especially regarding the future behavior of external cost shocks, the degree of indexation of nominal contracts and decisions made regarding the domestic price of fuels. Economic activity continues to outperform expectations, and the technical staff’s growth projections for 2022 have been revised upwards from 5% to 6.9%. The new forecasts suggest higher output levels that would continue to exceed the economy’s productive capacity for the remainder of 2022. Economic growth during the first quarter was above that estimated in April, while economic activity indicators for the second quarter suggest that the GDP could be expected to remain high, potentially above that of the first quarter. Domestic demand is expected to maintain a positive dynamic, in particular, due to the household consumption quarterly growth, as suggested by vehicle registrations, retail sales, credit card purchases and consumer loan disbursement figures. A slowdown in the machinery and equipment imports from the levels observed in March contrasts with the positive performance of sales and housing construction licenses, which indicates an investment level similar to that registered for the first three months of the year. International trade data suggests the trade deficit would be reduced as a consequence of import levels that would be lesser than those observed in the first quarter, and stable export levels. For the remainder of the year and 2023, a deceleration in consumption is expected from the high levels seen during the first half of the year, partially as a result of lower repressed demand, tighter domestic financial conditions and household available income deterioration due to increased inflation. Investment is expected to continue its slow recovery while remaining below pre-pandemic levels. The trade deficit is expected to tighten due to projected lower domestic demand dynamics, and high prices of oil and other basic goods exported by the country. Given the above, economic growth in the second quarter of 2022 would be 11.5%, and for 2022 and 2023 an annual growth of 6.9% and 1.1% is expected, respectively. Currently, and for the remainder of 2022, the output gap would be positive and greater than that estimated in April, and prices would be affected by demand pressures. These projections continue to be affected by significant uncertainty associated with global political tensions, the expected adjustment of monetary policy in developed countries, external demand behavior, changes in country risk outlook, and the future developments in domestic fiscal policy, among others. The high inflation levels and respective expectations, which exceed the target of the world's main central banks, largely explain the observed and anticipated increase in their monetary policy interest rates. This environment has tempered the growth forecast for external demand. Disruptions in value chains, rising international food and energy prices, and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies have contributed to the rise in inflation and above-target expectations seen by several of Colombia’s main trading partners. These cost and price shocks, heightened by the effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have been more prevalent than expected and have taken place within a set of output and employment recovery, variables that in some countries currently equal or exceed their projected long-term levels. In response, the U.S. Federal Reserve accelerated the pace of the benchmark interest rate increase and rapidly reduced liquidity levels in the money market. Financial market actors expect this behavior to continue and, consequently, significantly increase their expectations of the average path of the Fed's benchmark interest rate. In this setting, the U.S. dollar appreciated versus the peso in the second quarter and emerging market risk measures increased, a behavior that intensified for Colombia. Given the aforementioned, for the remainder of 2022 and 2023, the Bank's technical staff increased the forecast trajectory for the Fed's interest rate and reduced the country's external demand growth forecast. The projected oil price was revised upward over the forecast horizon, specifically due to greater supply restrictions and the interruption of hydrocarbon trade between the European Union and Russia. Global geopolitical tensions, a tightening of monetary policy in developed economies, the increase in risk perception for emerging markets and the macroeconomic imbalances in the country explain the increase in the projected trajectory of the risk premium, its trend level and the neutral real interest rate1. Uncertainty about external forecasts and their consequent impact on the country's macroeconomic scenario remains high, given the unpredictable evolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, geopolitical tensions, the degree of the global economic slowdown and the effect the response to recent outbreaks of the pandemic in some Asian countries may have on the world economy. This macroeconomic scenario that includes high inflation, inflation forecasts, and expectations above 3% and a positive output gap suggests the need for a contractionary monetary policy that mitigates the risk of the persistent unanchoring of inflation expectations. In contrast to the forecasts of the April report, the increase in the risk premium trend implies a higher neutral real interest rate and a greater prevailing monetary stimulus than previously estimated. For its part, domestic demand has been more dynamic, with a higher observed and expected output level that exceeds the economy’s productive capacity. The surprising accelerations in the headline and core inflation reflect stronger and more persistent external shocks, which, in combination with the strength of aggregate demand, indexation, higher inflation expectations and exchange rate pressures, explain the upward projected inflation trajectory at levels that exceed the target over the next two years. This is corroborated by the inflation expectations of economic analysts and those derived from the public debt market, which continued to climb and currently exceed 3%. All of the above increase the risk of unanchoring inflation expectations and could generate widespread indexation processes that may push inflation away from the target for longer. This new macroeconomic scenario suggests that the interest rate adjustment should continue towards a contractionary monetary policy landscape. 1.2. Monetary policy decision Banco de la República’s Board of Directors (BDBR), at its meetings in June and July 2022, decided to continue adjusting its monetary policy. At its June meeting, the BDBR decided to increase the monetary policy rate by 150 basis points (b.p.) and its July meeting by majority vote, on a 150 b.p. increase thereof at its July meeting. Consequently, the monetary policy interest rate currently stands at 9.0% . 1 The neutral real interest rate refers to the real interest rate level that is neither stimulative nor contractionary for aggregate demand and, therefore, does not generate pressures that lead to the close of the output gap. In a small, open economy like Colombia, this rate depends on the external neutral real interest rate, medium-term components of the country risk premium, and expected depreciation. Box 1: A Weekly Indicator of Economic Activity for Colombia Juan Pablo Cote Carlos Daniel Rojas Nicol Rodriguez Box 2: Common Inflationary Trends in Colombia Carlos D. Rojas-Martínez Nicolás Martínez-Cortés Franky Juliano Galeano-Ramírez Box 3: Shock Decomposition of 2021 Forecast Errors Nicolás Moreno Arias