Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / The main purpose of the study was to explore the causes and effects of unemployment and the impact this has on development. The study was significant as it was assisting in identifying the unemployed in Tshiheni village. Furthermore the study highlighted various factors that conspires development at the village i.e. the causes of unemployment. The study also revealed the psychological, health and socio-economic challenges faced by the unemployed at the village. It further communicated possible strategies in which the un-employed can make a living. The study is qualitative in nature and a thirty percent systematic random sampling was drawn from the population. An interview schedule was used to collect data from the seventy respondents and it is included here as appendix A. The findings of the research were that the majority of the unemployed were aged between twenty-one and thirty years, females being the most vulnerable. Unemployment was mainly caused by non-availability of jobs, followed by retrenchments and then lack of skills. Majority of respondents reported viewing themselves negatively. Half of the respondents believe that abusing drugs would help them deal with the situation. Unemployment has a negative effect on social relationships. Majority of the unemployed are not self-employed, but rely on families and child grants for support.

Finding an explanation for the rise and persistence of European unemployment has been one of the main research programmes of labour economists during the last decade. In this doctoral thesis, we contribute to this literature by questioning the causes of unemployment persistence in Belgium. To that purpose, we conduct an in-depth econometric analysis of the flows out of unemployment in this country. In Chapters 2 and 3, we study the behaviour of the exit rate out of unemployment over duration and calendar time. In Chapter 3, we investigate whether this behaviour differs according to the place of living and the skill level, as measured by the level of education. Finally, in Chapter 4, we determine to what extent the divergences in the rate of flowing from unemployment between workers with different levels of education can be explained by a skill mismatch phenomenon and/or by a job competition story. By refining the causes of unemployment persistence in Belgium, our doctoral research also contributes to the design of more effective labour market policies.

Finding an explanation for the rise and persistence of European unemployment has been one of the main research programmes of labour economists during the last decade. In this doctoral thesis, we contribute to this literature by questioning the causes of unemployment persistence in Belgium. To that purpose, we conduct an in-depth econometric analysis of the flows out of unemployment in this country. In Chapters 2 and 3, we study the behaviour of the exit rate out of unemployment over duration and calendar time. In Chapter 3, we investigate whether this behaviour differs according to the place of living and the skill level, as measured by the level of education. Finally, in Chapter 4, we determine to what extent the divergences in the rate of flowing from unemployment between workers with different levels of education can be explained by a skill mismatch phenomenon and/or by a job competition story. By refining the causes of unemployment persistence in Belgium, our doctoral research also contributes to the design of more effective labour market policies.

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Management, 1978. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-236).

LL.D.

The goal of this dissertation is to illustrate the importance and feasibility of conducting policy evaluations which pay attention to both efficiency and equity. Introducing an equity criterion necessarily involves introducing value judgements, but I suggest that objectivity can be maintained through the adoption of an 'ethically flexible' approach. That is, an analyst can avoid imposing his own particular values by explicitly conducting the evaluation from a number of different ethical positions. This dissertation illustrates the feasibility of an ethically flexible approach by carrying out an evaluation of the proposals for the reform of the Canadian Unemployment Insurance (UI) programme made by the Macdonald and Forget Commissions. The evaluation proceeds in four stages: 1. Behavioural models which take account of the existence of unemployment and UI are developed. 2. The models are estimated using an appropriate Canadian data set. 3. The estimated models are used to simulate behavioural responses to UI reform. 4. Estimation and simulation results are used to carry out the ethically flexible welfare evaluation. Two household labour-supply models are used. The first assumes that observed unemployment is the outcome of utility-maximizing choices. The second introduces the possibility that demand-side constraints may interfere with supply-side choices. A form of switching regression with sample separation unknown is developed to allow estimation of 'constrained' labour-supply functions. Additional problems for estimation include a budget constraint which is non-linear as a result of the UI programme and a dependent variable, weeks of leisure (unemployment), which is limited to values between zero and fifty-two. Both unconstrained and constrained models are estimated for single men, single women and couples, using linear expenditure systems and data from the 1982 Survey of Consumer Finance. Estimation results suggest that constrained labour-supply functions are less elastic than unconstrained functions, that there is no observable difference between the labour-supply behaviour of men and women in a constrained model, and that cross-effects are important in the determination of the labour-supply behaviour of couples. Estimated probabilities of constraint take an average value of (approximately) 80 percent. The simulation of behavioural responses to UI reform using the estimated unconstrained labour-supply functions suggests that large reductions in unemployment might be anticipated. Simulation using the constrained labour-supply functions suggests that responses may be negligible. Welfare evaluation measures are constructed for three ethical perspectives: The first is in the spirit of Utilitarianism; the second is in the spirit of John Rawls' theory of justice; the third is in the spirit of Robert Nozick's entitlement theory. The 'Utilitarian' measure is a mean of order r over the distribution of individual utilities. (Explicit interpersonal comparisons are required for these evaluations.) The 'Rawlsian' measure is a mean of order r over the distribution of individual incomes, censored at the poverty line to focus attention on the worst-off group. The 'Entitlement' measure is a measure of the distance between the distribution of individual costs (premiums) and benefits derived from UI. Three factors are important in the- determination of the welfare-evaluation results. First, the ethical position adopted matters. Both UI reform proposals appear welfare-reducing from a Utilitarian perspective and welfare-improving from an Entitlement perspective. Second, for the Rawlsian and Utilitarian evaluations, the assumed degree of inequality aversion is important. Finally, assumptions made about the nature of unemployment are critical. This is most clearly illustrated by the Rawlsian results. If unemployment is assumed to be the outcome of utility-maximizing choices, then both reform proposals appear welfare-improving: poor people choose to work more and their incomes increase. If unemployment may be the result of demand-side constraints so that increases in employment are not possible, then UI reform merely results in reductions in income for the worst-off group. These results illustrate the importance of both the equity and the efficiency dimensions of a policy evaluation. This thesis demonstrates the feasibility of conducting an objective policy evaluation which pays attention to both. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Preface: An unprecedented amount of unemployment throughout the western world challenges men to use their utmost intelligence to combat this monstrous social evil. yet without an understanding of all the available facts concerned, the problem is incapable of solution. The scope of this thesis is confined to the unemployed in the city of Brandon during the month of September, 1931. The purpose is to present certain aspects of the personal circumstances of their lives, and to discuss the bearing of these circumstances on the local unemployment problem. This study is based on the analysis of the registration of the unemployed of the city of Brandon that was made during the week beginning September 21st, 1931. The statistical method of approach was used both in securing the necessary factual basis and in exploring causual relationships. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

This paper examines the methodology currently used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to estimate unemployed entrants into the labor force. Unemployed entrants are individuals who enter the labor force for the first time, or after an absence of a year or more. Since these individuals lack current work experience, they are not eligible to receive unemployment compensation and therefore are not accounted for in the Unemployment Insurance system. According to the national Current Population Survey, unemployed entrants make up approximately 40 percent of the total unemployed. The estimation of unemployed entrants is a crucial step in the development of unemployment estimates at the labor market level. This paper demonstrates that the current method in use does not produce realistic estimates. Inconsistencies in the methodology are discussed and an econometric model is presented that produces more accurate measurements of the number of unemployed entrants into the labor force. / Master of Arts

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