Top

Published in:

2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

8. Labour Markets, Demography, Migration and Skills

Authors : Michael Landesmann, Hermine Vidovic

Published in: Does EU Membership Facilitate Convergence? The Experience of the EU's Eastern Enlargement - Volume II

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

This chapter reviews labour market developments pre- and post-EU Enlargement in the Central-Eastern and South-Eastern European (CESEE) countries. During the post-transition phase CESEE economies went through dramatic processes of structural change (deindustrialisation, tertiarisation, uneven regional development, etc.). Such industrial and regional structural change had strong implications for labour demand and the demand for skills. Furthermore, migration flows and other demographic developments affected the available labour supply. This chapter analyses these developments, their impact on labour market developments pre- and post-EU membership, and develops scenarios into the future. This chapter also includes an analysis of the impact of demographic developments on a likely ‘labour shortage’ scenario for the catching-up processes of Central and Eastern European countries into the future.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter 15 Years from the Eastern Enlargement: Financial Integration and Economic Convergence in Europe

next chapter Corruption, Institutions and Convergence

Such ‘secondary transition recessions’ were often a function of unsustainable exchange rate regimes and misguided monetary policies which often led to exchange rate collapses with ensuing banking crises.

Some economies experienced severe balance of payments and exchange rate crises in the late 1990s, foremost Bulgaria which moved to a currency board regime in order to contain hyperinflation. The result was a sharp contraction of GDP over a number of years.

For comparative purposes Fig. 8.3 also includes the information regarding African demographic developments, the main non-European neighbouring region of the EU.

Taking the last indicator, GDP per capita, the gaps (measured as ratios) between urban regions and the country as a whole and to rural regions in particular would be for the EU-15 respectively 1.12 and 1.38, while for the EU11 this gap would amount to 1.68 and 2.35. Of course, there are various problems with comparisons of GDP per capita between urban (and particularly metropolitan) regions and other regions, due to the non-availability of region-specific price levels to construct proper PPP measures of real income levels; further the distortions that arise between GDP and GNP due to the profit reporting of companies that have headquarters in capital cities, but also due to the impact of often a significant share of commuters in the working population. There are also other factors that can lead to biases in such real income comparisons at the regional level.

‘Low’ refers - according to ISCED classification 2011 - to ISCED 0-2, ‘Medium’ to ISCED 3-5, and ‘High’ to ISCED 6-8.

Specific attention has to be paid to the special situation of the Roma population in those countries in which their share is relatively high (Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania). The evidence is that they have significantly and persistently lower educational attainment levels than the rest of the population and that they tend to be concentrated in left-behind regions. Some of the much worse position of the low skilled in the labour markets of the EU11 (as compared to the situation in the EU-15) is due to the unresolved issue of educational and labour market integration of this highly disadvantaged ethnic group.

See European Union, FRA (2012); Kahanec (2014); Kertesi and Kezdi (2011a, b); Milcher and Fischer (2011); Ringold (2000).

Blanchard, O., & Wolfers, J. (1999). The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence (NBER Working Paper 7282).

Bodnár, K., Fadejeva, L., Lordache, S., Malk, L., Paskaleva, D., Pesliakaitė, J., Todorović Jemec, N., Toth, P., & R. Wyszyński (2018). How do Firms Adjust to Rises in the Minimum Wage? Survey Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe (ECB Working Paper Series, No 2122).

Boeri, T., & Garibaldi, P. (2006). Are Labour Markets In The New Member States Sufficiently Flexible for EMU? Journal of Banking and Finance, 30, 1393–1407.CrossRef

Boeri, T., & Keese, M. (1992). Labour Markets and the Transition in Central and Eastern Europe. OECD Economic Studies No. 18, Spring.

Brücker, H., et al. (2009). Labour Mobility Within the EU in the Context of Enlargement and the Functioning of the Transitional Arrangements. Study for the European Commission: Final Report. Nuremberg: European Integration Consortium.

Camagni, R., & Capello, R. (2017). Second Rank Cities in Europe: Structural Dynamics and Growth Potential. London: Routledge Publ.CrossRef

Cazes, S., & Nesporova, A. (2003). Labour Markets in Transition. Balancing Flexibility and Security in Central and Eastern Europe. Geneva: ILO.

European Union, Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). (2012). The situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States; Survey Results at a Glance. Luxembourg: Publications Office.

European Commission. (2017). My Region, My Europe, Our Future; Seventh Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion. Luxembourg.

Foray, D., David, P. A., & Hall, B. (2009). Smart Specialisation – The Concept. Knowledge Economists Policy Brief n°9. http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/download_en/kfg_policy_brief_no9.pdf

Iammarino, S., Rodriguez-Pose, A., & Storper, M. (2019). Regional Inequality in Europe: Evidence, Theory and Policy Implications. Journal of Economic Geography, 19, 273–298.CrossRef

IMF. (2019). Lifting Growth in the Western Balkans: The Role of Global Value Chains and Services Exports. Washington, DC: IMF European Department.

Jestl, S., Landesmann, M., & Leitner, S. (2015). Migrants and Natives in EU Labour Markets: Mobility and Job-Skill Mismatch Patterns. Research Report No. 403, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Vienna.

Kahanec, M. (2014). Roma Integration in European Labor Markets. In IZA World of Labor (39 pp).

Kertesi, G., & Kezdi, G. (2011a). The Roma/Non-Roma Test Score Gap in Hungary. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, 101, 519–525.CrossRef

Kertesi, G., & Kezdi, G. (2011b). Roma Employment in Hungary After the Post-Communist Transition. The Economics of Transition, 19(3), 563–610.CrossRef

Milcher, S., & Fischer, M. (2011). On Labour Market Discrimination Against Roma in Southeast Europe. Papers in Regional Science, 90(4), 773–788.CrossRef

Kornai, J. (1995). Chap. 2 Transformational Recession: The Example of Hungary. In C. T. Saunders (Ed.), Eastern Europe in Crisis and the Way Out. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Landesmann, M., Vidovic, H., & Ward, T. (2004). Economic Restructuring and Labour Market Developments in the New EU Member States. wiiw Research Report 312. Vienna: wiiw.

Lavalle, C., et al. (2017). European Territorial Trends – Facts and Prospects for Cities and Regions. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

Leitner, S. M., & Stehrer, R. (2019). Demographic Challenges for Labour Supply and Growth. wiiw Research Report No. 439. Vienna: wiiw.

Martin, R. L. (2008). National Growth Versus Spatial Equality? A Cautionary Note on the New ‘Trade-Off’ Thinking in Regional Policy Discourse. Regional Science Policy and Practice, 1, 3–13.CrossRef

Nickell, S. (1997). Unemployment and Labor Market Rigidities: Europe versus North America. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11(3), 55–74.CrossRef

OECD. (2013). Calculating Summary Indicators of EPL Strictness: Methodology. Paris: July.

OECD. (1994). The OECD Jobs Study, Facts, Analysis. Paris: Strategies.

OECD. (2019). Unleashing the Transformation Potential for Growth in the Western Balkans. Paris.

Petrakos, G., Rodriguez-Pose, A., & Rovolis, A. (2005). Growth, Integration and Regional Disparities in the European Union. Environment and Planning A, 37, 1837–1855.CrossRef

Radosevic, S. (2017). Assessing EU Smart Specialisation Policy in a Comparative Perspective. In S. Radosevic, A. Curaj, R. Gheorghiu, L. Andrescu, & I. Wade (Eds.), Advances in the Theory and Practice of Smart Specialisation. London: Academic Press.

Riboud, M., Sánchez-Páramo, C., & Silva-Jáuregui, C. (2002). Does Eurosclerosis Matter? Institutional Reform and Labor Market Performance in Central and Eastern European Countries in the 1990s. In World Bank Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 0202. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Ringold, D. (2000). Roma and the Tranisition in Central and Eastern Europe: Trends and Challenges. Washington, DC: The World Bank.CrossRef

Rodriguez-Pose, A. (2018). The Revenge of the Places That Don’t Matter (and What to Do About It). Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 11, 189–209.CrossRef

Stehrer, R., & Stöllinger, R. (2015). The Central European Manufacturing Core: What Is Driving Regional Production Sharing?, FIW-Research Report 2014/15 (2).

Stöllinger, R. (2019). Testing the Smile Curve: Functional Specialisation in GVCs and Value Creation (wiiw Working Paper, 163).

Title: Labour Markets, Demography, Migration and Skills
Authors: Michael Landesmann
Hermine Vidovic
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Does EU Membership Facilitate Convergence? The Experience of the EU's Eastern Enlargement - Volume II
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-57701-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-57702-5

Copyright Year: 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57702-5_8