The objective of this study is to measure and compare unemployment insurance (UI) policies among different countries based on generosity and efficiency. A modified modeling framework from Pallage, Scruggs, and Zimmermann (2013) is utilized that excludes savings by agents but incorporates endogenous job search intensities. To measure UI generosity two models are created: 1) a simple model where everyone is eligible for UI and receives benefits indefinitely until re-employment; and 2) a complex model, based on realistic UI policy, which incorporates a waiting period, a UI entitlement status, benefit payments and durations, as well as social assistance policies. The models are calibrated to match an unemployment rate and a share of short-term unemployment of a specific country. The only difference between the two models is the UI policy in place. The generosity metric is then calculated as the replacement ratio in the simple model such that agents are indifferent between the simple UI scheme and the complex (realistic) UI policy. Alongside the generosity metric, an efficiency measure is created that measures the utility loss from moving from the benchmark UI system (offering optimum level of benefits) to the realistic UI system. The countries investigated are Canada, United States, France, and Germany post and pre Hartz reforms. The main results show that Germany pre-reform is the most generous system followed by USA, Germany post-reform, France, and Canada. Rankings based on efficiency display similar pattern. A welfare comparison between Germany pre and post Hartz reform showed that the reform reduced UI generosity, decreased UI efficiency, and caused welfare to either decline or slightly increase depending on the specified risk aversion coefficient. Finally, the sensitivity results reveal that USA is the least generous UI system when housing assistance is removed from the social assistance benefit calculations.

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This thesis deals with youth unemployment below 25 years of age in the European Union and Slovakia. The aim of this work is objectively evaluate and analyze the problem of unemployment, the explanation of the causes and consequences of total unemployment and youth unemployment and the definition of the main influences on the development of unemployment among people below 25 years of age. Result of the analysis suggests possible solutions how to reduce unemployment rate, or how to maintain an acceptable level of it and prediction of how will youth unemployment develop in the EU over the next five years. The work consists of six chapters. The first chapter is devoted to defining the basic concepts and explain the phenomenon of unemployment in economic terms. The second chapter presents the current state of unemployment in the European Union and Slovakia. The third chapter is analysing the development of unemployment in the European Union and Slovakia according to criteria such as gender, educational attainment and sector work. The fourth chapter focuses on the actions of the European Union to increase youth employment and the fifth chapter focuses on measures in Slovakia, along with specific examples of completed projects. Last sixth chapter contains the prediction of unemployment in the European Union in the future.

M.A. / South Africa is currently experiencing a process of transformation impacting on the welfare, economical, physical and political areas. This process of transformation and socio-economic change has created a number of problems for example - unemployment. During the past decade the South African economy has been unable to provide opportunities for its economically active population. Unemployment in South Africa has undergone a transformation and, currently, the problem cannot, as in the past, be attributed to irresponsibility and instability. External factors are currently causing a situation where stable and self supporting individuals and families are becoming unemployed. Unemployment does not only have socio-economic implications for the country but also psycho-social implications for individuals, the family and the community. Retrenchment can lead to poor self-image, the loss of confidence, limited or even no future vision, internal struggle, depression, tension in the family and other psycho-social conditions...

South Africa’s youth unemployment figure ranks among the worst in the world and is one of the country’s major macro-economic challenges. Research identified the most significant cause of youth unemployment as being the high cost of labour in relation to the level of productivity by the youth of the country. The government is consequently attempting to reduce the cost of labour by means of the Employment Tax Incentive Act which subsidises employers for appointing new workers below the age of 29. The study reviewed international research performed on similar globally implemented incentive programmes, which established that the majority of wage subsidy programmes do not appear to have a net positive impact on the longer-term employability of the participants in these incentives. This was found to be particularly so in the case of developing countries, such as South Africa. The interaction between the Employment Tax Incentive Act (No 26 of 2013) and the proposed Special Economic Zones Bill was also evaluated by reviewing international research on geographically targeted wage subsidies. The research identified that incentives tied to the number of new jobs created within targeted areas are able to raise employment levels within those areas. However, the increased levels of employment within targeted areas are frequently offset by the consequent decreases in employment levels in surrounding areas, resulting in an absence of net impact. The study also found that when geographically targeted wage subsidies are used in conjunction with other forms of business incentives, existing establishments are, resultantly, at a competitive disadvantage. This causes business closures and loss of employment, which once again neutralises the positive effects of the new employment opportunities created by the subsidy. In the study, it was established that wage subsidies, such as those proposed by the Employment Tax Incentives Act, are probably not the answer to raising employment levels. Furthermore, the Employment Tax Incentives, used in conjunction with the proposed Special Economic Zones Bill, are also unlikely to yield any significant increase in employment levels in these specific zones. Recommendations were made for future research relating to international experience with other forms of active labour market programmes and the outcome of the Employment Tax Incentives, on the country’s employment levels, when actual data and statistics become available. / MCom (South African and International Taxation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

South Africa’s youth unemployment figure ranks among the worst in the world and is one of the country’s major macro-economic challenges. Research identified the most significant cause of youth unemployment as being the high cost of labour in relation to the level of productivity by the youth of the country. The government is consequently attempting to reduce the cost of labour by means of the Employment Tax Incentive Act which subsidises employers for appointing new workers below the age of 29. The study reviewed international research performed on similar globally implemented incentive programmes, which established that the majority of wage subsidy programmes do not appear to have a net positive impact on the longer-term employability of the participants in these incentives. This was found to be particularly so in the case of developing countries, such as South Africa. The interaction between the Employment Tax Incentive Act (No 26 of 2013) and the proposed Special Economic Zones Bill was also evaluated by reviewing international research on geographically targeted wage subsidies. The research identified that incentives tied to the number of new jobs created within targeted areas are able to raise employment levels within those areas. However, the increased levels of employment within targeted areas are frequently offset by the consequent decreases in employment levels in surrounding areas, resulting in an absence of net impact. The study also found that when geographically targeted wage subsidies are used in conjunction with other forms of business incentives, existing establishments are, resultantly, at a competitive disadvantage. This causes business closures and loss of employment, which once again neutralises the positive effects of the new employment opportunities created by the subsidy. In the study, it was established that wage subsidies, such as those proposed by the Employment Tax Incentives Act, are probably not the answer to raising employment levels. Furthermore, the Employment Tax Incentives, used in conjunction with the proposed Special Economic Zones Bill, are also unlikely to yield any significant increase in employment levels in these specific zones. Recommendations were made for future research relating to international experience with other forms of active labour market programmes and the outcome of the Employment Tax Incentives, on the country’s employment levels, when actual data and statistics become available. / MCom (South African and International Taxation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In this study we have investigated fertility levels during periods of unusually high unemployment levels. Our research questions were: 1. To what extent does fertility levels change during periods of higher unemployment? 2. Can family policies affect changes of fertility levels during these periods? Our hypothesis states that firstly, fertility levels are expected to be lower during periods of higher unemployment, due to households perceiving a lower level of economic security. Secondly, effective family policies should counter this effect, making unemployment having less of an effect on household fertility decisions, due to family policy lowering the economic risks associated with having a child. We performed an analysis in two parts. In the first part we divided countries into groups based on which countries had experienced a period of higher unemployment, and which countries had more or less generous family policies. The second part of our analysis was a regression analysis of TFR, unemployment and family policy variables. The results were in line with our first hypothesis: In our first analysis, the group of countries that were experiencing a period of higher unemployment also had a more negative development of fertility. In our regression analysis, we could observe a negative relationship between unemployment and fertility. On the other hand, our results could not support our second hypothesis: No individual family policy could be found to change the effect of unemployment on fertility levels.

This study is concerned with the integration of young Omanis into the labour market. The aim is identify the factors that hamper their efforts to gain access into the labour market. The year 1970 marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Oman. This hitherto backward and undeveloped country embarked on an ambitious development programme and within a span of twenty five years achieved rapid economic growth and social change. The pace of economic development has been determined by the revenues generated from oil which are the main source of income for the government. In its transformation the country relied on an expatriate labour force to meet the demand for a competent work force needed to carry out and run various plans and projects. Their size increased from few hundreds in 1970 to constitute two thirds of the country's workforce which was estimated at around 625,000 in 1995. Until 1970, most young Omanis were seeking employment in the public sector. The fall of oil prices from 1986 onwards and the advent of the Gulf crises in 1990, weakened the economy of Oman and the Government's role as the leading employer of school-leavers was reduced. Accordingly, a growing number of young Omanis began to approach the private sector for employment. The private sector employers were, however, more enthusiastic to recruit expatriate workers than to employ young Omanis. The result was growing unemployment amongst young school-leavers. This situation coincided with the majority of jobs being occupied by non-Omanis. This situation raised question marks about the efficiency of the human resource policies of the country. The changes brought about by this new pattern of employment and the difficulties faced by the young schoolleavers is the central focus of this study. To provide an adequate explanation for the impact of this issue, the study drew on the experiences of several countries and covered different issues under different disciplines, in order to formulate a set of assumptions. These assumptions were developed to reflect the perspectives of the principle groups of stakeholders concerned with labour market issues - young Omanis, private sector employers, and Omani society as a whole. In gathering data and generating knowledge, the study employed a triangulation of methods comprising quantitative and qualitative research methods. The employment of multiple methods was essential, on the grounds that not much research has been carried out in Oman. Respondents, many of them expatriates with little motivation to support the objective of the study, often questioned the intention and motivation of the researcher. Therefore, to obtain an accurate picture from them, it was important to intensify the efforts in the field to ensure the veracity of their responses. Based on these investigations the study has sought to conceptualise a theoretical approach to youth transition from school to the labour market, based on two types of factors: endogenous and exogenous. The study also offered a set of suggestions to policy makers to alleviate the problem of youth unemployment in the country.

The first chapter of this thesis studies the effect of labor unions on the elasticity of substitution between production inputs in several transportation industries such as railroad, postal service and air transportation. The elasticity is derived from two different methods: the CES production function and the translog cost function. This study finds that labor unions lower the flexibility to substitute between labor and capital in the air transportation industry. The second chapter estimates the effect of using internet job search on labor market outcomes. This study uses a Cox Proportional Hazard Model to find the effect of internet job search on unemployment duration. Further, a generalized Oaxaca wage decomposition is employed to explore a difference in wages received between internet job searchers and non-internet job searchers. The results show that internet job search is associated with higher education. However, there is no evidence that internet job search shortens unemployment duration of the job searchers. Finally, internet job searchers obtain slightly lower wages than non-internet job searchers. The last chapter in this dissertation studies the effect of New Economy Policy (NEP) on ethnics' economics gap in Malaysia. Specifically, this chapter estimates a degree of occupational segregation before and after NEP between ethnic Malays and Chinese, between ethnic Malaya and Indians, and between ethnic Chinese and Indians by using the Duncan Dissimilarity Index. In addition, this study also estimates a generalized Oaxaca wage decomposition between these ethnic groups before and after NEP. This study finds that NEP managed to reduce occupational segregation between all ethnic groups. However, all ethnic wage gaps continued to rise after 1986.

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