Showing papers in "International Journal of Social Economics in 1978"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine youth unemployment experience in a number of countries and the different measures that have been adopted to alleviate them in some way, stressing the dangers in trying to make international comparisons of unemployment by discussing briefly the shortcomings of the available data.
Abstract: This article will examine youth unemployment experience in a number of countries and the different measures that have been adopted to alleviate them in some way. We begin by stressing the dangers in trying to make international comparisons of unemployment by discussing briefly the shortcomings of the available data. Notwithstanding such deficiencies an assessment is made of the situation across a number of countries and the possible causal factors are briefly considered. Finally, in the light of this analysis some of the measures that have been taken in different countries to deal with the problem are described and particular features and measures of special interest to the debate about future policies directed towards improving the employment opportunities for young persons are discussed.
6 citations
TL;DR: The rapid growth in the British public sector since the turn of the century, and particularly since the end of the last war, has been most noticeably experienced in the social services as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The rapid growth in the British public sector since the turn of the century, and particularly since the end of the last war, has been most noticeably experienced in the social services. By 1974, expenditure on the health, welfare, education, housing, and income maintenance services accounted for almost half of total expenditure, having grown at an average rate of exactly ten per cent per annum since 1951. Unfortunately, this growth has not been accompanied by an increased awareness of the need for socio‐economic monitoring and analysis of service provision. Only since the oil crisis of 1973, as cutback has followed cutback, and as central and local government administrators have been faced with the problem of increasing, or at least maintaining, output levels whilst input supplies have steadily fallen, has attention been focused upon efficiency and effectiveness.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a tentative comparison among national income distributions and the study of trends since the 1950s is presented, focusing on pre-tax total income distribution in 18 "western" countries.
Abstract: This article is concerned with pre‐tax total income distribution in 18 “western” countries. Its objective is a tentative comparison among national income distributions and the study of trends since the 1950s. Similar issues have recently been analysed in a number of studies. This analysis differs from them in three main respects. Firstly, it refers to a group of nations which excludes developing countries. In spite of substantial differences in political and socio‐economic structures in this group of countries, processes of income distribution have a great degree of similarity. Income statistics are then more “homogeneous” and their comparison more meaningful than in studies covering developed and developing nations. Secondly, the article differs in the methodology it uses. Other studies have relied on “strict comparisons” of income statistics, for example they have compared values of coefficients of inequality and of income shares. In this article “loose classification”, for example categorisation of countries into groups (see following section), is used as a means of comparing income distributions. This makes it possible to allow, within limits, for the fact that the value of the data can be different from the one which is observed, even when statistics seem “fairly” accurate and comparable. Thirdly, the possible influence of the data source on each country's position is examined by considering a plurality of sources whenever possible. Intentionally, this article does not include discussion of most of the problems which exist in the field of income distribution—including those concerning coverage and reliability of data. It is expected that the reader keeps them and their various caveats well in mind when evaluating the empirical evidence which is presented. The explanation of differences in income distribution structures is outside the scope of this article.
5 citations
TL;DR: For the past two decades, economists, political scientists, and other public policy analysts have repeatedly lamented the lack of attention afforded the expenditure side of fiscal policy as discussed by the authors, and this concern has prompted numerous studies which have examined in great detail budgets of individual countries.
Abstract: For the past two decades, economists, political scientists, and other public policy analysts have repeatedly lamented the lack of attention afforded the expenditure side of fiscal policy. Such concern has prompted numerous studies which have examined in great detail budgets of individual countries. Despite this renewed interest, surprisingly little has appeared in the area of comparative expenditure development. Cross‐country comparisons have traditionally employed cross‐section analyses while ignoring, except in rare instances, comparisons of time series data.
5 citations
TL;DR: A review of research evidence dealing with the individual's perceptions of inflation and incomes policy which was collected by means of national sample surveys and which may be of interest to social economists is presented in this paper.
Abstract: This paper presents a brief review of research evidence dealing with the individual's perceptions of inflation and incomes policy which was collected by means of national sample surveys and which may be of interest to social economists. The implications of the findings for discussions of inflation and incomes policies are also examined. The evidence has been fully documented elsewhere. The research explored some of the social/psychological factors involved in attitudes to inflation which might account for their apparently intractable nature. This territory in the no‐man's area between economics and psychology seemed to have been neglected because the study of inflation was looked upon as primarily the domain of economists while the study of attitudes, learning and thought processes was considered to be that of psychologists.
4 citations
TL;DR: The social indicator approach represents an extension and a change in direction of traditional methods of statistical assessment as discussed by the authors, and it has been described as a pioneer of the social indicator movement, and has been widely used in the literature.
Abstract: The social indicator approach represents an extension and a change in direction of traditional methods of statistical assessment. Professor Raymond Bauer, a pioneer of the social indicator movement, has described them as:
4 citations
TL;DR: A particular confluence of forces (ever accelerating technological change; rapidly shifting attitudes, life styles, and social institutions; and the paradox in many countries of a customary prosperity threatened by doubts as to future economic performance) is at least in part responsible for the burgeoning interest in the field.
Abstract: While concern for the quality of working life (QWL) is by no means new it is nevertheless true that there has been an enormous amount of research, experimentation and commentary in this field in recent years. A particular confluence of forces—ever‐accelerating technological change; rapidly‐shifting attitudes, life‐styles, and social institutions; and the paradox in many countries of a customary prosperity threatened by doubts as to future economic performance—is at least in part responsible for the burgeoning interest in the field. But important also is its multidisciplinary nature, which has afforded to social scientists of varied orientations the opportunity to participate in a new intellectual growth industry.
3 citations
TL;DR: The relation between economic growth and income distribution has been the subject of a growing body of empirical studies ever since the initial discussion by Kuznets, who argued that the income distribution in the early stages of growth in developing areas would most likely move in the direction of greater inequality.
Abstract: The relation between economic growth and income distribution has been the subject of a growing body of empirical studies ever since the initial discussion by Kuznets, who argued that the income distribution in the early stages of growth in developing areas would most likely move in the direction of greater inequality. While there is substantial support for this hypothesis of relative inequality increase, recent cross‐country evidence does not corroborate a stronger hypothesis of a decline in the absolute income level of the poorer groups. Nevertheless, cross‐sectional analyses may be fraught with misleading generalisations, and the validity of the hypothesis will have to be assessed by the secular experience of individual countries. Within this focus, one country which does not appear to support the Kuznets thesis is Puerto Rico, where recent studies point to a movement toward greater income equality over the 1949–69 period. This paper, which covers the same two‐decade interval, attempts to throw further light upon the overall question by employing, in addition to the well‐known Lorenz/Gini measure, Theil's entropy index. The latter coefficient permits decomposition of given sets by quantifying between‐set and within‐set inequalities.
2 citations
TL;DR: In the last decade there has been increased worldwide interest in "adjustment assistance" programs that facilitate the rehabilitation of workers disadvantaged as a result of increased import competition as mentioned in this paper, which has been generated as a corollary of the multilateral movement towards freer international trade and the desire on the part of developed countries to offer preferential trading treatment to products from developing countries.
Abstract: Over the last decade there has been increased worldwide interest in “adjustment assistance” programmes that facilitate the rehabilitation of workers disadvantaged as a result of increased import competition. In particular, interest has been generated as a corollary of the multilateral movement towards freer international trade and the desire on the part of developed countries to offer preferential trading treatment to products from developing countries. Such international organisations as UNCTAD, GATT, ILO, and OECD have studied the adjustment problem and have recommended the adoption of national trade‐adjustment programmes[l].
1 citations
TL;DR: The social economics perspective is underdeveloped as discussed by the authors, and a strategy to remedy this neglect of social economics is discussed in the context of American economics, but this is a tentative enterprise and the actions are offered more for purposes of discussion than as policy proposals.
Abstract: There is a substantial body of practitioners within the American economics community whose interests, methods, and outlook differ from the mainstream. Elsewhere, we have labelled this dissenting tradition social economics and attempted to exemplify its scope and method. The social economics perspective is underdeveloped. The purpose here is to open discussion on a strategy to remedy this neglect of social economics. This is obviously a tentative enterprise and the actions we discuss are offered more for purposes of discussion than as policy proposals.
1 citations
TL;DR: In the more than three decades since the second world war, the South African economy has experienced rapid growth as discussed by the authors, and the average annual growth rate in real gross domestic product was 5·2 per cent.
Abstract: Economic Trends and Composition In the more than three decades since the second world war, the South African economy has experienced rapid growth. In the years 1945–65, the average annual growth rate in real gross domestic product was 5·2 per cent. (During this sustained twenty‐year growth period, the country's population increased by an average of 2·3 per cent, which means that an annual increase in per capita product of 2·9 per cent was registered.) In the years 1966–72, economic growth was even more rapid, at an annual rate of around 6 per cent in real terms. In concert with many other countries, South Africa's economic performance has been weaker over the past five years (1973–77) with growth rates hovering about zero; excess capacity; inflation; and growing open unemploy‐ment (in addition to traditional and no doubt very substantial under‐employment, especially in the large semi‐subsistence sector).
TL;DR: This article examined the role and effectiveness of retraining in British Government Skillcentres (formerly Government Training Centres) using case study material from a project based on the North Humberside local labour market.
Abstract: This article seeks to examine the role and effectiveness of retraining in British Government Skillcentres (formerly Government Training Centres) using case study material from a project based on the North Humberside local labour market. In the first section the background to the project and the methodology utilised are outlined. Secondly, we examine the characteristics of the Skillcentre trainees and their evaluations of the courses followed. Thirdly, we discuss the job search process and post‐training employment experience of these trainees. The fourth section concentrates on the demand side consideration of the responses and views of employers vis‐a‐vis Skillcentre trainees. Finally, we conclude that while such retraining programmes have met with some limited success there are certain important aspects which warrant further discussion.
TL;DR: In this paper, a contribution to the increasing literature on the international division of labour and the New International Economic Order (NIEO) is made, focusing on some of the labour aspects of socio-economic growth.
Abstract: In this contribution to the increasing literature on the international division of labour and the New International Economic Order (NIEO) we wish to concentrate on some of the labour aspects of socio‐economic growth. This will be approached in the first section by considering socio‐economic growth as one aspect of the socio‐economic system outlined previously but here slightly expanded conceptually: in section two we briefly examine the ideas of the NIEO; and in the final section we consider some of the labour aspects of the NIEO.