Bibliography

Abstract

Despite the crucial role it plays in facilitating the realization of other economic and social human rights (Harvey 2007), even the wealthiest countries in the world seem unable to secure the right to work. This chapter attempts to identify the source of this failure through a review of the policies American progressives have promoted to secure the right to work since the 1930s. The first portion of this review focuses on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s seminal twelve-year presidency. American progressives developed two distinct strategies for securing the right to work during this period. The first was a social welfare strategy involving the use of direct job creation to provide decent work for those job seekers whom the private sector could not employ at a particular moment in time. The second was a macroeconomic strategy that relied on the use of deficit spending by the federal government to raise aggregate demand enough to achieve full employment. In this chapter, the former strategy shall be referred to as the direct job-creation strategy and the latter as the aggregate demand management (ADM) strategy. Direct job-creation programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) occupied a central role in the mature New Deal of the second half of the 1930s. Moreover, the social welfare thinking that inspired these initiatives also inspired President Roosevelt’s vigorous advocacy during World War II of a broadened conception of human rights. Nevertheless, American progressives lost interest in the direct job-creation strategy as war-related employment – both military and civilian – finally brought the nation’s lingering unemployment crisis to an end in the early 1940s.

https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139235600.007

Human Rights Macroeconomics

Abstract

The paper discusses the Employment of Last Resort (ELR) policy proposal that has emerged from Post Keynesian theory as an embodiment of what Keynes called “socialization of investment,” as well as an avenue for a social provisioning approach towards socialization of unpaid care labor. Intersections between Post Keynesian and feminist economics are delineated. The paper proposes avenues for input from feminist economics into formulation of an ELR policy, and raises questions about transformation of gender relations.

https://edi.bard.edu/research/notes/cfeps-wp-56-employer-of-last-resor...

Gender Macroeconomics

Abstract

Over the past few years the employment creation potential of activities beneficial to the environment has been receiving increasing attention through the term of ‘green jobs”. These jobs are often understood to be those involving the implementation of measures that reduce carbon emissions or help realise alternative sources of energy use in developed economies. This paper explores the potential for governments to create “green jobs” and align poverty reduction and employment creation in developing countries with a broader set of investments in environmental conservation and rehabilitation to also preserve bio diversity, restore degraded land, combat erosion, and remove invasive aliens etc. in many cases, environmental degradation has a devastating direct effect on the poor, whether they themselves are the main cause of this degradation or not, and indications are that well designed interventions can contribute directly to the poverty-environment nexus by allowing income generated from environmental activities to ease the pressure on generating income through exploiting the environment. environmental sector targeted public employment programmes can also be deployed to specifically address environmental concerns and create employment for the poor at the same time. The paper draws heavily on the experiences on the Working for Water programme in south africa because of the size and longevity of the programme and the extensive research and it has been subjected to. it continues by presenting an overview of the types of environmental activities that could be included in such programmes, and explores issues relating to how the programmes are prioritised, limitations with regards to estimating the costs and benefits, and in light of this, the paper considers how different types of funding and implementation strategies and mechanisms might be deployed and/or combined to enable these investments to take place and maximise employment and environmental benefits.

https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/publications/green_...

Africa Environmental Sustainability Human Rights Implementation Macroeconomics

Abstract

The recent global crisis, originating in financial liberalization, longstanding ‘free’ trade policies and laissez faire promotion in general, has resulted in uneven and rather discouraging socioeconomic outcomes around the world. For the most part, the expectation market efficiency would accompany deregulation, reduction of budget deficits, and price stability, i.e., channel investment where most needed, did not come to pass. The much anticipated poverty reduction and more equitable income distribution impacts proved elusive as well. Furthermore, higher growth rates did not generate sufficient demand to absorb surplus labour. These issues are connected but an in depth discussion is beyond the scope of this short note. Instead we will concentrate on the challenge of joblessness. Perplexed governments, international development agencies, and the Bretton Woods institutions have concluded that ” trickle down ” effects do not always take place, and in any event, not in a timely fashion. Particularly troubling and beyond loss of income, joblessness and poverty are associated with marginalization and social exclusion, susceptibility to extremist ideologies, subjection of people to high levels of violence and criminality and overall loss of hope. There is therefore a particular urgency to engage in policy dialogue and pursue new directions and by now, it is acknowledged that fresh ideas are needed. In the search for new directions, we keep in mind that since poverty and inequality are the result of different processes, one size will not fit all. To give some examples, meagre wages and unregulated work conditions, being on the brink of becoming landless or lacking the skills to be eligible for better paying existing vacancies, each clearly requires a different type of intervention and hence points to distinct policy recommendations. There also exists another group of people whose economic suffering is largely based on chronic and severe lack of employment opportunities. In such instances, ” public work programmes ” and ” employment guarantee schemes, ” whereby the government becomes the employer of last resort (ELR), can go a long way. These are sometimes referred to as ‘active labour market policies’, and there have been many such country experiences; ii at its core, such a policy makes it the obligation of the state to provide a paid work entitlement to those ready and willing but unable to find a job. Historically, such job opportunities have been created primarily in construction and maintenance of physical infrastructural assets. Often bypassed are equally meaningful jobs that …

https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/UNDP-Levy/South_Africa/Policy_Brief...

Africa Development Gender

Abstract

Job creation is once again at the forefront of policy action, and for advocates of pro-employment policies, President Obama’s Keynesian bent is a most welcome change. However, there are concerns that Obama’s plan simply does not go far enough, and that a large-scale public investment program may face shortages of skilled labor, put upward pressure on wages, and leave women and minorities behind. Both concerns can be addressed by a simple amendment to the Obama plan that will bring important additional benefits. The amendment proposed here is for the government to offer a job guarantee to all unemployed individuals who are ready, willing, and able to participate in the economic recovery—that is, to target the unemployed directly.

https://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/obamas-job-creation-promise

Gender Macroeconomics North America Racial Justice

Abstract

Este trabajo realiza una caracterizacion de la situacion de pobreza y desigualdad en Argentina en las ultimas decadas, posteriormente analizamos las implicancias que las reformas neoliberales tuvieron en la reformulacion del sistema de proteccion social argentino. Ubicamos el “Plan Jefes y Jefas de Hogar Desocupados” desde su lanzamiento en el ano 2002, como un programa de transferencia de ingresos condicionada dirigida a los pobres. Se ubica en un lugar medular en el sistema de politicas sociales en Argentina, tanto por los criterios institucionales que contempla (alcance nacional, articulacion intergubernamental, nivel presupuestario asignado, cobertura poblacional), como por colocarse como la herramienta politico institucional mas relevante y masiva para las expresiones de la cuestion social en el marco de la crisis de 2001-2002. En este contexto analizamos el proceso de emergencia, desarrollo y transiciones del programa. Palabras clave: programa de transferencia de ingresos condicionada, pobreza, asistencia, proteccion social.

https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/3211/321127276006.pdf

Implementation South America

Abstract

Beyond loss of income, joblessness is associated with greater poverty, marginalization, and social exclusion; the current global crisis is clearly not helping. In this new Public Policy Brief, Research Scholar Rania Antonopoulos explores the impact of both joblessness and employment expansion on poverty, paying particular attention to the gender aspects of poverty and poverty-reducing public employment schemes targeting poor women. The author presents the results of a Levy Institute study that examines the macroeconomic consequences of scaling up South Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme by adding to it a new sector for social service delivery in health and education. She notes that gaps in such services for households that cannot afford to pay for them are mostly filled by long hours of invisible, unpaid work performed by women and children. Her proposed employment creation program addresses several policy objectives: income and job generation, provisioning of communities’ unmet needs, skill enhancement for a new cadre of workers, and promotion of gender equality by addressing the overtaxed time of women.

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/54243/1/611868776.pdf

Africa Gender

Abstract

In this article, I will briefly describe a program that would generate true, full employment, price stability, and currency stability. The basic idea is that the federal government provides the financing for an “employer of last resort program”, as advocated by Hyman Minsky. In effect, this provides a perfectly elastic demand curve for labor. The wage and benefit package is fixed by the government, hence, the program cannot be inflationary. It allows truly full employment, but with “loose” labor markets because firms always have access to labor that can be hired out of the public service employment program at a small mark-up over the government’s administered wage. It also provides a strong automatic stabilizer as government spending will move countercyclically. In a recession, labor flows into the pool, increasing government spending; in expansion the private sector hires labor out of the pool, reducing government spending. I will show that this program can be adopted in any nation that issues its own currency. In summary, I show how we might construct a public service program that guarantees true, full employment with price and currency stability.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1010686

Inflation Macroeconomics

Abstract

This paper aims to present the conceptual and theoretical framework of the employer of last resort (ELR) program and to verify the possibility of its application to the Brazilian economy. The initial hypothesis, based on the theory of Minsky (1986) and Wray (2003), is that if the government acts as an ELR, structural unemployment could be mitigated without generating an inflationary process or incurring the possible curses caused by labor market reform policies. In the present study, we identify main obstacles for the application of ELR to Brazil once it has been adequately adapted to national specificities.

https://doi.org/10.2753/pke0160-3477320210

Implementation Macroeconomics South America

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the impact of the Plan Jefes y Jefas de Hogar Desocupados on structural poverty. This social assistance program, introduced in 2002 as a response to the severe economic and political crisis that affected Argentina at the end of 2001, proposes a cash transfer to unemployed heads of households with dependents under the age of 18 or with disabled individuals of any age. We found that the impact of the JJH program on the monetary aspect of poverty is minor and its impact on employment is uncertain, because it is not clear whether it generated new jobs.

https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/597/59724201003.pdf

Macroeconomics South America

Abstract

Unemployment was singled out by John Maynard Keynes as one of the principle faults of capitalism; the other is excessive inequality. Obviously, there is some link between these two faults: since most people living in capitalist economies must work for wages as a major source of their incomes, the inability to obtain a job means a lower income. If jobs can be provided to the unemployed, inequality and poverty will be reduced–although such policy will not directly address the problem of excessive income at the top of the distribution. Most importantly, Keynes wanted to put unemployed labor to work–not digging holes, but in socially productive ways. This would help to ensure that the additional effective demand created by government spending would not be exhausted in higher prices as it ran up against bottlenecks or other supply constraints. Further, it would help maintain public support for the government’s programs by providing useful output. And it would generate respect for, and feelings of self-worth in, the workers employed in these projects (no worker would want to spend her days digging holes that serve no useful purpose). President Roosevelt’s New Deal jobs programs (such as the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps) are good examples of such targeted job-creating programs. These provided income and employment for workers, actually helped increase the nation’s productivity, and left us with public buildings, dams, trails, and even music that we still enjoy today. As our nation (and the world) collapses into deep recession, or even depression, it is worthwhile to examine Hyman P. Minsky’s comprehensive approach to resolving the unemployment problem.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1394467

Macroeconomics

Abstract

The effect of unemployment on mental health was examined with meta-analytic methods across 237 cross-sectional and 87 longitudinal studies. The average overall effect size was d =0.51 with unemployed persons showing more distress than employed persons. A significant difference was found for several indicator variables of mental health (mixed symptoms of distress, depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, subjective well-being, and self esteem). The average number of persons with psychological problems among the unemployed was 34%, compared to 16% among employed individuals. Moderator analyses demonstrated that men and people with blue-collar-jobs were more distressed by unemployment than women and people with white-collar jobs. Linear and curvilinear moderating effects of the duration of unemployment were also identified. Furthermore, the negative effect of unemployment on mental health was stronger in countries with a weak level of economic development, unequal income distributions, or weak unemployment protection systems compared to other countries. Meta-analyses of longitudinal studies and natural experiments endorsed the assumption that unemployment is not only correlated to distress but also causes it. Seemingly inconsistent longitudinal results of older meta-analyses can be explained by retest artifacts. We also identified mental-health related selection effects during job loss and job search, but they are weak. With an effect size of d =−.35 intervention programs for unemployed people were found to be moderately effective in ameliorating unemployment-related distress among continuously unemployed persons.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2009.01.001

Health Macroeconomics

Abstract

Why should public sector job creation be fashionable? The short answer is that persistent labour underutilisation is a huge economic waste and the private sector will never provide enough working hours at acceptable wages to satisfy the workforce. A longer answer requires an understanding of the basic operations of a modern monetary economy, which recognises that fiat currency systems are public monopolies that introduce imperfect competition into the monetary system, and that the imposition of taxes coupled with insufficient government spending generates unemployment.

https://www.fullemployment.net/publications/wp/2007/07-03.pdf

Australia Macroeconomics

Abstract

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which
entitles rural households to 100 days of casual
employment on public works at the statutory minimum
wage, contains special provisions to ensure full
participation of women. This paper, based on fieldwork
in six states in 2008, examines the socio-economic
consequences of the NREGA for women workers. In spite
of the drawbacks in the implementation of the
legislation, significant benefits have already started
accruing to women through better access to local
employment, at minimum wages, with relatively decent
and safe work conditions. The paper also discusses
barriers to women’s participation.

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/2790414.pdf

Development Gender India

Abstract

Extreme poverty levels were seen in Argentina after the severe crisis unleashed at the end of 2001. This was worsened by a deep production standstill, which made the national, provincial, and municipal governments face the need to generate programs for a comprehensive support of families, specially in relation to all essential aspects, which would enable the eradication of the high levels of indigence, and favor social inclusion so as to mitigate, at least partly, the extreme household income inequality in an increasing polarized society. The ‘Jefes y Jefas de Hogar’ Program (PJJH) is a social assistance program, focused on the unemployed heads of households with dependents under the age of 18 or with disabled individuals of any age, that the national government started out as of May 2002.1 In order to achieve the social objectives stated above, a cash transfer of US$45 ($150) (one-hundred and fifty Argentine pesos) per month is given to each beneficiary, which would correspond to the cost of the basic basket for adult equivalents at the end of 2001, a sum which by October 2002 was no longer up to date.2 In consideration of this assistance, the program establishes that the plan recipients must be engaged in one of the following activities: enter into a training program (not clearly established), perform work for the community for up to 20 hours per week (which would be defined and verified locally through political mechanisms) or transform the assistance into an employment subsidy for the company hiring that person.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203927922-22

Macroeconomics South America

Abstract

After the 2001 crisis, Argentina—once the poster-child for pro-market structural-adjustment policies—had to define a new strategy in order to manage the societal demands that had led to the fall of the previous administration. The demand by the majority of the population for employment recovery spurred the government to introduce a massive employment program, the Plan Jefes y Jefas de Hogar Desocupados (Program for Unemployed Male and Female Heads of Households). This program, which accounted for less than 1 percent of GDP at the outset, paved the way for a reduction of the contractionary effects that otherwise would have caused a catastrophic devaluation of the currency. This paper explores how Argentina pursued a strategy of employment generation, with the state participating as employer of last resort, to recover from one of the worst social and economic crises in its history.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1132772

Implementation Macroeconomics Quantitative South America

Abstract

WITH THE 2008 ELECTION LIKELY TO LEAD TO DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF THE LEGISLATIVE and executive branches, it is time for a bold new vision of the economy-one that will reduce the increased inequality that has grown in tandem with our national wealth. It is time to take a big step toward shared prosperity. Some promising progressive proposals have been crafted.1 However, battered by three decades of conservative assaults, including well-planned attacks on government for the people, Democrats often exhibit timidity rather than temerity. The presidential aspirants do raise economic issues such as health care, taxes, wage stagnation, middle-class insecurity, income inequality, and the negative effects of trade on jobs and communities-and, in the case of John Edwards, concern about poverty and the “two Americas.” Dennis Kucinich does mention chronic unemployment and the need for substantial job creation, and Joseph Biden favors the creation of three million “green collar jobs.” But full employment-long central in Democratic Party platforms-has all but vanished from the discourse.2 Also missing, except from Kucinich’s platform, is a strong emphasis on building up and maintaining our depleted physical infrastructure and undeveloped and often nonexistent human services.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10957960701834399

Macroeconomics

Abstract

After highlighting the failure of mainstream economic theory in dealing with the rising global inequality and economic struggles brought about by neoliberal economic policies, the paper presents the outline of an alternative policy proposal to create full employment and price stability, and to restore financial sovereignty to developing countries. Under the Employer of Last Resort (ELR) program, the government guarantees employment to all through a decentralized community-based job creation policy. Projects are selected by local community groups based on community needs and the availability of skills in the unemployment pool. Funding is provided by a central/federal fiscal authority and requires policy coordination with the central bank.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0486613408319918

Macroeconomics

Abstract

This Primer introduces you to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA 2005). It is written in simple language and addressed to a wide audience: labourers, activists, journalists, researchers, and all concerned citizens.

NREGA 2005 is a law whereby anyone who is willing to do unskilled manual labour at the statutory minimum wage is entitled to being employed on public works within 15 days. If employment is not provided, an unemployment allowance has to be paid. However, the work guarantee in NREGA 2005 is subject to an initial limit of “100 days per household per year”.

Workers’ organisations have been demanding a national Employment Guarantee Act for many years, along with other legal safeguards for the right to work. The NREGA 2005 was enacted by the Indian Parliament after a long struggle, and much resistance from some quarters (including sections of the corporate sector, the business media, and the Finance Ministry). The Act is by no means perfect. In fact, it is a heavily “diluted” version of an earlier draft, prepared in August 2004 by concerned citizens. Nevertheless, NREGA 2005 is a potential tool of empowerment for rural labourers: guaranteed employment can protect them from economic insecurity, strengthen their bargaining power, and help them to organise and fight for their rights.

None of this will happen, however, if NREGA 2005 remains on paper, or if it is implemented in a half- hearted manner. The history of every social legislation is that it takes a long struggle for people to enforce their entitlements, even after the law is in place. The success of NREGA 2005 requires a massive process of public mobilisation. In particular, it depends on the strength of organised demand for guaranteed employment. The first task is to understand the Act, and especially the rights that we have under the Act. The main purpose of this Primer is to facilitate this learning process.

https://www.jobguarantee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1.2.2.-NREGA-P...

Asia Development Human Rights Implementation India

Abstract

The experience of the Jagrut Adivasi Dalit Sangathan in Madhya Pradesh shows the power of grassroots organisational work in activating the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Levels of NREGA employment in the Sangathan areas are as high as 85 days per household per year, and nearly half of all working households have got 100 days of work. They also earn the minimum wage. The Act can also be an opportunity to promote overall rural development and alter the balance of power in village society.

https://www.jobguarantee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Khera-2008-Emp...

Development India Macroeconomics

Abstract

Iran’s constitution emphasizes social justice and obliges government to provide a job for every citizen. But in fact, the government’s duty to provide jobs has shifted to government support for a measure designed to create new employment opportunities through subsidized loans to the private sector. This policy has not been successful to date, and the current stock of unemployed workers is about three million–12.75 percent of the country’s labor force. To realize the desire of the Iranian people to achieve full employment and social justice, the government must implement employment guarantee schemes, or EGS, in the most deprived areas. Elected town and village councils can design and manage the public works with the help of other government, as well as nongovernment, institutions. Programs can be financed using less than 10 percent of the annual oil-exporting revenue that is deposited in the Oil Stabilization Fund.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1087428

Asia Macroeconomics

Abstract

This document describes in detail how reformulation to a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) can be made in order to analyze the multiplier effects of a new sector. A different input composition, or technology, of the sector makes a conventional analysis of final-demand injections on existing sectors invalid. We show that the reformulation—so-called hypothetical integration—is an efficient way to incorporate the difference into the SAM, rather than costly full-scale rebalancing. We apply this method to the case of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South Africa, and show that the proposed approach effectively represents the labor intensity requirement of the program and a new-factor income distribution.

https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/UNDP-Levy/South_Africa/Appendix_D_R...

Development Gender Modeling Quantitative

Abstract

This case study identifies critical elements to the passage of the NREGA, an act guaranteeing employment to all Indian citizens. It highlights the role of institutions, events, and actors.

https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/indias-national-rural-empl...

Human Rights Implementation India

Abstract

To put an economy on an equitable growth path, economic development must be based on social efficiency, equity, and job creation. It has been shown that unemployment has far-reaching effects, all leading to an inequitable distribution of well-being. But many economists assume that unemployment tends toward a natural rate below which it cannot go without creating inflation. The paper considers a particular employment strategy: a government job creation program, such as an employment guarantee or employer-of-last-resort scheme, that would satisfy the noninflationary criteria. The paper analyzes the international experience of government job creation programs, with particular emphasis on the cases of Argentina and India. We conclude by considering the application of an employer-of-last-resort policy to the developing world and as a vehicle to meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1281476

Macroeconomics

Abstract

The goal of full employment once occupied a central posltlon on the agenda of progressives, including those in the governments of the United States and Western Europe. For example, “the right to a useful and remunerative job” was the first item in Franklin Roosevelt’s Economic Bill of Rights (1944/1950). The “right to work” was also recognized as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations 1948; Harvey 1989; 2002). It was widely accepted at the time that this goal translated into an achievable and sustainable unemployment rate of 2 to 3 percent (Beveridge 1945, 21, 127-128; Clark 1949, 14). In many countries in Western Europe, this goal was largely achieved. For a number of decades after World War II, unemployment was below 3 percent often substantially. This was not the case in the United States. Although the achievement of full employment was a prominent goal of the Democratic Party throughout this period, rates below 4 percent were achieved only in the immediate post-war years and during the Korean and Vietnam wars. An example of the rise and fall of full employment as a progressive policy goal is its status in Democratic Party platforms from a central position to complete disappearance in recent decades (Harvey 2007; Mucciaroni 1990; Weir 1992).1 The stagflation of the 1970s weakened the faith of policy makers both in the achievability of full employment and in Keynesian demand management, the strategy on which progressives had relied since the 1940s (Harvey 2007; Mucciaroni 1990; Weir 1992). Moreover, since unemployment affects both the level of social need and the availability of resources to meet it (Ginsburg 2000; Goldberg 2000; 2002), the viability of the welfare state was also called into question. The emergence of inflation as a primary concern of public policy brought a shift in focus from full employment to price stability and a tendency to redefine full employment itself. Rather than a job for all, it came to mean an unemployment rate believed to be consistent with price stability. This was invariably higher than the rate

https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2007.11507091

Macroeconomics

Abstract

The prevailing view among both progressive and conservative economists in the United States today is that unemployment cannot be driven much below the 4 to 6 percent range – well above the 2% level that progressive economists in the 1940s considered achievable (Clark et al. 1949, 14). This is an uncomfortable reminder that in an earlier era progressives had higher hopes concerning the possibilities for eliminating involuntary unemployment than they do today. In the 1940s, progressives thought they could guarantee the availability of enough good jobs to provide decent work for all job-seekers, thereby moving from a world of perennial job shortages to one of sustained “full employment” in which the “right to work” would be secured. Today, few progressive economists (and fewer still of those who have the ear of progressive policy makers) think that goal is achievable. Instead, they implicitly or explicitly accept the view that job shortages are either inevitable in a market economy or cannot be eliminated except by making unacceptable sacrifices in job quality, and that public policy accordingly should aim to ameliorate the bad effects of those shortages rather than eliminate them. Why does this matter? It matters because the achievement of full, and decent, employment occupies a foundational role in the vision of a good society – that has guided progressive reform efforts ever since the end of World War II – was built in the 1940s, and for which no satisfactory substitute has yet to been found.

https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511511257.006

Macroeconomics

Abstract

This working paper provides a survey of the theoretical underpinnings for the various employment guarantee schemes, and discusses full employment policy experiences in the United States, Sweden, India, Argentina, and France. The theoretical and policy developments are delineated in a historical context. The paper concludes by identifying some questions that still need to be addressed in the context of the global political economy.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.985162

Implementation Macroeconomics

Abstract

The first great demand of a better social order, I should say, then, is the guarantee of the right, to every individual who is capable of it, to work – not the mere legal right which is enforceable so that the individual will always have the opportunity to engage in some form of useful activity, and if the ordinary economic machinery breaks down through a crisis of some sort, then it is the duty of the state to come to the rescue and see that individuals have something to do that is worth while – not breaking stones in a stoneyard, or something else to get a soup ticket with, but some kind of productive work which a self-respecting person may engage in with interest and with more than mere pecuniary profit. Whatever may be said about the fortune of what has technically been called socialism, it would seem to be simply part of ordinary common sense that society should reorganize itself to make sure that individuals can make a living and be kept going, not by charity, but by having productive work to do. ([1919] 1939, 420-421)

https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2007.11507038

Human Rights Implementation Macroeconomics

Abstract

The employer of last resort (ELR) policy proposal, also referred to as the job guarantee or public sector employment, is promoted by its supporters as an alternative to unemployment as the primary means of currency stability. The core of the ELR proposal is that a job would be provided to all who wanted one at a decent, fixed wage; the quantity of workers employed in the program would be allowed to rise and fall counter to the economy’s cycles as some of the workers moved from public to private sector work or vice versa depending upon the state of the economy. Supporters have played an important advisory role in Argentina’s Jefes de Hogar jobs program that has provided jobs to over two million citizens – or five percent of the population; though there are some important differences, the Jefes program has many similarities with the ELR proposal (Tcherneva and Wray 2005).

While ELR proponents argue the program would not necessarily generate budget deficits (Mitchell and Wray 2004), the program is based upon Abba Lerner’s (1943) concept of functional finance in which it is the results of the government’s spending and taxing policies in terms of their effects upon employment, inflation, and macroeconomic stability that matter (Nell and Forstater 2003). This is in contrast to the more widely promoted concept of “sound” finance, in which the presence of a fiscal deficit is itself considered undesirable. Rather than not being able to “afford” an ELR program, ELR proponents argue that societies would do better to consider whether they can “afford” involuntary unemployment. The proposed ELR’s approach of hiring “off the bottom” is argued to be a more direct means for eliminating excess, unused labor capacity than traditional “military Keynesianism” or primarily “pump-priming” fiscal policies, particularly given how the U.S. economy struggles to create jobs for the poor even during economic expansions (Pigeon and Wray 1998, 1999; Bell and Wray 2004). As Wray (2000) notes, “How many missiles would the government have to order before a job trickles down to Harlem?”. More traditional forms of fiscal stimulus or stabilization are still useful and complementary to an ELR program, though proponents argue that only the latter could ensure that enough jobs would be available at all times such that every person desiring a job would be offered one while also potentially adding to the national output.

Regarding macroeconomic stability, it is the fluctuating buffer stock of ELR workers and the fixed wage that are argued by proponents to be the key features that ensure the program’s impact would be stabilizing. With an effectively functioning buffer stock, the argument goes, as the economy expands ELR spending will stop growing or even decline – countering the inflation pressures normally induced by expansion – as some ELR workers take jobs in the private sector. Regarding the fixed wage, traditional government expenditures effectively set a quantity and allow markets to set a price (as in contracting for weapons); in contrast, the ELR program allows markets to set the quantity as the government provides an infinitely elastic demand for labor, while the price (the ELR base wage) is set exogenously and is unaffected by market pressures. Together, proponents argue, the buffer stock of ELR workers and the fixed wage thereby encourage loose labor markets even at full employment. Aside from an initial increase as the program is being implemented (the size of which will depend upon the wage offered compared to the existing lowest wage and whether the program is made available to all workers), proponents suggest the program would not generate inflationary pressures and thus would promote both full employment and price stability.

The purpose of this paper is to model quantitatively the potential macroeconomic stabilization properties of an ELR program utilizing the Fairmodel (Fair 1994, 2004). The paper builds upon the earlier Fairmodel simulations of the ELR in Majewski and Nell (2000) and Fullwiler (2003, 2005). Here, a rather simple version of the ELR program is incorporated into the Fairmodel and simulated. The quantitative effects of the ELR program within the Fairmodel are measured via simulation within historical business cycles and in comparison to other policy rules for both fiscal and monetary policies through stochastic simulation.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1722991

Inflation Macroeconomics Modeling Quantitative

Abstract

While Hyman P. Minsky is best known for his work on financial instability, he was also intimately involved in the postwar debates about fiscal policy and what would become the War on Poverty. Indeed, at the University of California, Berkeley, he was a vehement critic of the policies of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and played a major role in developing an alternative. Minsky insisted that the high investment path chosen by postwar fine-tuners would generate macroeconomic instability, and that the War on Poverty would never lower poverty rates significantly. In retrospect, he was correct on both accounts. Further, he proposed high consumption and an employer of last resort policy as essential ingredients of any coherent strategy for achieving macro stability and poverty elimination. This paper summarizes Minsky’s work in this area, focusing on his writings from the early 1960s through the early 1970s in order to explore the path not taken.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1014163

Macroeconomics

Abstract

Based on an evaluation of Argentina’s programme, Jefes de Hogar, and India’s Maharashtra’s Employment Guarantee Scheme, explores the significance of the policies for promotion of employment and how developing countries could create jobs.

https://www.ilo.org/empelm/pubs/WCMS_113904/lang--en/index.htm

Development Implementation Macroeconomics

Abstract

Based on an evaluation of Argentina’s programme, Jefes de Hogar, and India’s Maharashtra’s Employment Guarantee Scheme, explores the significance of the policies for promotion of employment and how developing countries could create jobs.

https://www.ilo.org/publications/employer-last-resort-programme-could-...

Development India Macroeconomics South America

Abstract

There is now widespread recognition that in most countries, private-sector investment has not been able to absorb surplus labor. This is all the more the case for poor unskilled people. Public works programs and employment guarantee schemes in South Africa, India, and other countries provide jobs while creating public assets. In addition to physical infrastructure, an area that has immense potential to create much-needed jobs is that of social service delivery and social infrastructure. While unemployment and enforced “idleness” persist, existing time-use survey data reveal that people around the world—especially women and children—spend long hours performing unpaid work. This work includes not only household maintenance and care provisioning for family members and communities, but also time spent that helps fill public infrastructural gaps—for example, in the energy, health, and education sectors. This paper suggests that, by bringing together public job creation, on the one hand, and unpaid work, on the other, well-designed employment guarantee policies can promote job creation, gender equality, and pro-poor development.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1016197

Environmental Sustainability Macroeconomics

Abstract

This thesis examines the micro-social effects of the main emergency policy implemented in Argentina in 2002 -the Plan Jefes y Jefas- on its female beneficiaries. The main finding is that while the program reproduced contemporary limited social planning, its community centers also provided a unique opportunity for poor women’s access to contexts of socialization and reciprocity. This marked a before-and-after point in their lives, allowing for potential changes in their lives.

https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/551628

Gender Implementation South America

Abstract

In many ‘developing’ countries widespread poverty is linked to landlessness and unemployment. Two possible responses to such poverty are employment guarantee (or public works) programmes and cash transfers. In general, low-wage job creation is the preferred option of both elites and citizens, but in South Africa cash transfers through a minimum income programme might, perversely, be more viable politically and effective more broadly in terms of poverty alleviation. The relative viability and efficacy of employment guarantees and cash transfers depends primarily on prevailing wages in the ‘market’. In a high-wage economy such as South Africa, the political power of organised labour is generally sufficient to prevent low-wage employment creation in public works programmes. In the South African context – in contrast to low-wage settings such as India or Ethiopia – the extension of public welfare might be more viable than an employment guarantee, although the political obstacles should not be under-estimated.

https://doi.org/10.1504/ijewe.2006.009357

Development Macroeconomics

Abstract

Adopting a conventional view of the need for governments to raise the funds they spend, I have argued that a well-designed Job Guarantee (JG) programme could be funded entirely from the savings and additional revenues it would generate (Harvey, 1989; 1995). In contrast, JG advocates working in the Post Keynesian tradition have grounded their proposal for funding such a programme on a more expansive view of the fiscal capacities of currency-issuing governments. Based on that view, they have argued that a JG programme could be funded without relying on any of the funding sources identified in my analysis of the issue (Mitchell and Wray, 2005; Tcherneva and Wray, 2005; Mitchell and Watts, 2005). This article argues that these two approaches to the funding issue are not inconsistent with one another and that they jointly reinforce the conclusion that a JG programme could achieve full employment without generating unacceptable levels of inflation.

https://doi.org/10.1504/ijewe.2006.009360

Macroeconomics

Abstract

Why not a Green Jobs Corps? There are obstacles, and the plan presented by this economist is controversial. But given the price paid in environmental degradation under current policies, we may have to start thinking, as they say, outside the box.

https://doi.org/10.2753/cha0577-5132490405

Environmental Sustainability Macroeconomics

Abstract

This article evaluates the strategies of guaranteeing unconditional basic income against those of guaranteeing employment. It is argued that, moral justifications notwithstanding, an open-ended commitment to either policy requires a clear grasp of its macroeconomic effects and institutional aspects. The tax-driven approach to money (also known as ‘modern money’) reveals that, while government funding for either proposal is not ‘operationally’ constrained, it produces disparate economic outcomes, depending on the program design of the universal guarantee. A modern money critique of the basic income proposal demonstrates that, in a monetary production economy, the unconditional supply of the monetary unit is inherently inflationary. By contrast, job guarantees can provide an important safety net by simultaneously stabilising prices. Additionally, job guarantees offer an institutional vehicle for achieving other social goals that are important to all advocates of universal assurances. The paper concludes that, to provide for all members of society, a joint policy option is necessary and outlines the broad contours of such a policy.

https://doi.org/10.1504/ijewe.2006.009358

Human Rights Macroeconomics

Abstract

Since 1997, a number of researchers (many of whom are now associated with the University of Missouri-Kansas City) have been advocating a job creation program that has been variously called the employer of last resort (ELR), job guarantee, public service employment, or buffer stock employment program. These proposals were based on earlier work by Hyman Minsky, Abba Lerner, Phillip Harvey, Wendell Gordon, and Charles Killingsworth and recalled the US New Deal experience with job creation programs. Most of the work so far has been at the theoretical level (Harvey 1989 and Ginsburg 1983 are important exceptions). However, Argentina recently adopted a job creation program that is explicitly based on our proposals. This paper provides a preliminary analysis of Argentina’s experience. Through most of the 1990s, Argentina was the poster child for the Washington Consensus, adopting a currency board, opening markets, downsizing government, and freeing capital. After its economy collapsed and unemployment and poverty skyrocketed, it implemented a limited employer of last resort program called Plan Jefes de Hogar, to provide jobs to poor heads of households. A Labor Ministry economist, Daniel Kostzer, had become familiar with the ELR proposals developed in the US and helped to design and implement the Jefes program. By most measures, the program has been a tremendous success, providing jobs to 2 million workers, or about 5% of the population and 13% of the labor force.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1010145

Implementation Macroeconomics South America

Abstract

(2005). Employer of Last Resort: A Response to My Critics. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 256-264.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2005.11506790

Macroeconomics

Abstract

In the past few years there have been a number critical assessmenis of the job creation proposal that has been variously termed the Job Guarantee (JG), Public Service Employment (PSE), Buffer Stock Employment (BSE) or Employer of Last Resort (ELR). The terms are interchangeable and reflect the evolution of the literature. Mitchell (1998) uses JG to describe his approach to full employment whereas the ELR terminology has been used by Wray (1998). The term ELR was used in the US as long ago as the New Deal, and was revived by Hyman Minsky in the mid-1960s. Wray now prefers PSE. While ELR is accurate in one sense, it also provides a negative connotation that neither PSE nor JG implies. Some of the more important explications of JG/PSE/ELR include Gordon (1997), Mosler (1997-98), Mitchell (1998), Wray (1998), Forstater (2000) and Harvey (2000). The most recent critiques include Sawyer (2003) and Ramsey (2002-3), while earlier critics include Aspromourgos (2000), Kadmos and O’Hara (2000), King (2000), Kriesler and Halevi (2001), and Mehrling (2000). In this paper, we use the term JG, reviewing the progress of the development of the JG approach and responding to what we believe to be the main thrust of our critics, which we summarise as: 1. JG increases employment by stimulating aggregate demand, hence, operates no differently from any ‘Keynesian’ fiscal policy or monetary policy; 2. JG could increase employment but it cannot enhance (improve) price stability – it is still subject to a ‘NAIRU’ constraint of some sort; 3. JG is at best a ‘make work’ program, or more negatively, another name for unemployment and, at best, replaces unemployment with underemployment; 4. ELR proposals have ignored the substantial logistical problems generated by cyclical fluctuation of participation in the program; 5. Supporters of the JG have ignored impacts on long-term government finance imposed by the government budget constraint (GBC); and 6. Supporters of the JG ignore the ‘fact’ that it will violate the external balance goal. Other critics argue that all the benefits of JG could be achieved with a basic income guarantee (BIG), without the negative impacts imposed by the ‘involuntary servitude’ of a JG. We do not consider this issue in this paper but direct readers to two recent and comprehensive repudiations of BIG by Mitchell and Watts (2004) and Tcherneva (2003). In the following sections, we consider criticisms 1 to 6 in some detail.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1010149

Macroeconomics

Abstract

Argentina was proclaimed to be the success story of IMF austerity and market liberalization policies for many years till it experienced economic meltdown. Argentinean government implemented a limited job guarantee program to deal with the problems of unemployment and poverty. This article discusses the job guarantee program and its effects mainly on the females of the poor families.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1009594

Gender Implementation Macroeconomics

Abstract

While we welcome a chance to discuss the merits of employer of last resort (ELR) proposals, it is difficult to respond to Malcolm Sawyer’s (2003) assessment.1 First, many of his critiques are superficial because he attempts to cover just about every issue even tangentially related to ELR. Second, he has relied to an alarming degree on critics of ELR (Aspromourgos 2000; Kadmos and O’Hara 2000; King 2001; Kriesler and Halevi 2001; and Mehrling 2000) for statements of the principles of ELR and, thus, misrepresents the program we endorse. In our response, we focus only on what we believe is the main thrust of his critique, that

https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2005.11506788

Australia Macroeconomics

Abstract

This paper describes what has been called the “employer of last resort” (ELR) proposal as a policy to achieve true full employment without inflation. We answer three main concerns about the program: 1) How can the government afford to hire all those who might want to work? 2) Won’t full employment cause inflation? 3) What will all those workers do?In building the case for ELR, we show that the purpose of the program is to supplement, not replace, alternative employment, such as that provided by private firms or other government programs. Any country that operates with its own currency and adopts a floating exchange rate can implement an ELR program, but each nation might formulate the specifics of its program in accordance with its own political and economic situation. Argentina is one such nation. The authors examine the institutional design of the Plan Jefes de Hogar and its impact on the Argentinean economy, and they draw parallels between the theoretical proposals for ELR and the practical experience with Jefes. Argentina’s case demonstrates possible ways in which ELR can advance a sense of civic duty, citizenship, social cohesion, reciprocity, and community involvement. Furthermore, ELR can contribute to the redefinition of the meaning of work by commanding recognition that certain forms of labor, such as caring and community involvement, are socially useful. Finally, we uncover some deficiencies of the Jefes program and assess its ability to ensure true full employment and price stability.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1009618

Macroeconomics South America

Abstract

In 1996 the Government of Malawi launched the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF), which supported the construction of village assets and a public works programme. This report presents the findings of a review of MASAF by a multi-disciplinary team from three well-known research institutions. The team collected data from key informant interviews, a review of project monitoring data and studies at 121 sub- project sites consisting of a checklist survey of the state of repair of the asset, a key informant interview, a questionnaire survey of 9 households and focus group discussions at 15 sites. This provided a unique source of data on the performance of an African social fund. The report assesses the degree to which the project provided benefits to the poor and contributed to pro-poor institutional development. The conclusions are mixed. A high proportion of the resources provided benefits in terms of new infrastructure or employment in public works. There was not much leakage of funds to the better off, nor was there much targeting of the poorest and most vulnerable. The report discusses the relationship between MASAF, the national government, local authorities and community structures. It explores how a demand-led approach interacted with sector planning and the devolution of powers to local government. It also explores the degree to which MASAF succeeded in democratising decision-making. One unexpected finding was the great influence of traditional leaders. The report concludes by discussing lessons for the implementation of Malawiís poverty reduction strategy. The report is of particular relevance to people with a special interest in Malawi and those working on institutional development in Africa.

https://www.ids.ac.uk/download.php?file=files/Rr56.pdf

Africa Implementation Macroeconomics Quantitative

Abstract

The authors used theoretical models to organize the diverse unemployment literature, and meta-analytic techniques were used to examine the impact of unemployment on worker well-being across 104 empirical studies with 437 effect sizes. Unemployed individuals had lower psychological and physical well-being than did their employed counterparts. Unemployment duration and sample type (school leaver vs. mature unemployed) moderated the relationship between mental health and unemployment, but the current unemployment rate and the amount of unemployment benefits did not. Within unemployed samples, work-role centrality, coping resources (personal, social, financial, and time structure), cognitive appraisals, and coping strategies displayed stronger relationships with mental health than did human capital or demographic variables. The authors identify gaps in the literature and propose directions for future unemployment research.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-90https://doi.org/10.90.1.53

Health Macroeconomics Quantitative

Abstract

The job numbers in the United States and around the globe continue to look bleak. Not only are the absolute numbers dismal, but also job growth has dragged on with no hope for a substantial change in prospects. This situation supports the view that we are facing a long-term problem that requires critical and creative problem-solving responses. Since unemployment is the major cause of poverty, many of our most pressing social problems are directly or indirectly related to joblessness. I argue that not only the quantity but also the quality of jobs is at issue.

https://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/the-case-for-an-environment...

Environmental Sustainability Macroeconomics

Abstract

This article evaluates the strategies of guaranteeing unconditional basic income against those of guaranteeing employment. It is argued that, moral justifications notwithstanding, an open-ended implementation of these universal guarantees does not stand a chance without a clear grasp of their macroeconomic effects and institutional aspects. Drawing on the tax-driven approach to money (also known as ‘modern money’) the paper explains that government funding for either proposal is not ‘operationally’ constrained. Financing, however, is important as it produces disparate economic outcomes, depending on the program design of the universal guarantee. A modern money critique of the basic income proposal reveals that, in a monetary production economy, the unconditional supply of the monetary unit is inherently inflationary. By contrast, job guarantees can provide an important safety net by simultaneously stabilizing prices. Additionally, job guarantees offer an institutional vehicle for achieving other social goals that are important to all advocates of universal assurances. The paper offers further points of comparison and concludes that, to provide for all members of society, a joint policy option is necessary. Thus, the broad contours of what such a policy might look like are herein advanced.

https://edi.bard.edu/research/notes/cfeps-wp-49-the-economic-viability...

Inflation Macroeconomics