<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> <p align="left">The aim of this study is to examine the community&rsquo / s perceptions of the factors that hamper the empowerment of women in post apartheid South Africa, particularly, women in Belhar community in the Western Cape. Of special interest is the community&rsquo / s perception of how different policies in post-apartheid South Africa have impacted on the socio-economic participation/discrimination of women&rsquo / s fight against disempowerment. It will also provide recommendations on how best community based systems can be structured to improve women empowerment.</p> </font></font></p>

The thesis consists of four papers, summarized as follows. "Do attitudes towards immigrants matter?" analyses the consequences of negative attitudes towards immigrants to Sweden. If attitudes changed from the average level to the most positive level, the wage earned by a well educated immigrant from a non developed country would increase by 12%. This change in attitudes would increase the welfare of immigrants from Africa and Asia, through their wage and local amenities, by an equivalent to one third of their wage and the welfare of immigrants from South America and Eastern Europe by one fourth of their wage if they are well educated, and one tenth otherwise. In "Who is hurt by discrimination?", the effects of discrimination of immigrants on the labour market are studied in a search and wage-bargaining setting, including a risk of losing skills during the experience of unemployment. The negative effects of discrimination in the form of higher unemployment and lower wages spread to all workers, immigrants and natives, in all sectors of the economy. An increase in the share of immigrants in the economy exacerbates the problem of discrimination. In "Complementary controls of corruption", a theoretical model shows that when the judiciary and the media are more dependent and the elections less competitive, corruption flourishes. The three institutions are shown to be complementary. The empirical analysis indicates that the dependence of the judiciary and the media has a positive effect on perceived corruption and that the media is complementary with both the judiciary and the electoral system. "Decision making in the ECB's Governing Council -- Should minutes and forecasts be published ?" analyses if the publication of forecasts and minutes of the meetings of the Governing Council could have a negative effect due to the influence of governments on their representatives' votes. The information provided is shown to reduce their influence and benefit the Executive Board.

Tidigare forskning kring arbetslöshet har visat på en mängd negativa effekter för den arbetslösa individen. Det behövs fler kvalitativa studier på detta område, eftersom de flesta tidigare studier är utförda med kvantitativa ansatser. Våra syften med studien är att ”nå en förståelse för hur yngre långtidsarbetslösa upplever sina möjligheter att få ett arbete”. Samt ”nå en förståelse av den arbetslösas identitet”. Vi använder en socialkonstruktionistisk utgångspunkt i tolkningen av identitetsbegreppet. Vi har valt tre socialpsykologiska begrepp för att analysera våra resultat, dessa är: stigma, utanförskap samt makt. Materialet har insamlats genom intervjuer med långtidsarbetslösa som befinner sig på AMA arbetsmarknad, vilket gett oss en mängd upplevelser av arbetslöshet. Denna studie har baserats på en hermeneutisk metod. Några centrala resultat är att respondenterna känner sig ekonomiskt begränsade, samt upplever ett utanförskap och skam. De visar att arbetet fortfarande är en stor del av identiteten. Trots stora påfrestningar för den arbetslösa individen visar vår studie på att yngre arbetslösa kan uppvisa en optimism inför framtiden.

The dependence on oil has increased in many nations as a result of increasing industrialization and oil has been the factor of many crises as well as many wars. This paper examines how the price of oil affects the unemployment in Sweden. The case of Sweden is interesting since its politics are very different compared to other industrialized countries when it comes to unemployment and benefits. Our main objective is to see whether a change in the oil price will cause a change in unemployment at a later stage. We perform linear regression analysis relating current changes in the variables and Granger causality tests to conclude if there exists a direct relationship. The result we received from our linear regression test on current changes and our Granger causality test showed a relationship between the price of oil and unemployment in Sweden. In the linear regression relating current changes in these variables, a positive relationship was indicated. Due to the fact that some of the coefficient estimates are positive and some are negative in the Granger causality regressions, we can not conclude whether an increase in the price of oil will cause a positive or negative effect on unemployment.

Abstract This is unique study of import is of the greatest importance, since no studies of import across regions have earlier been performed. Import is a driving force of innovations and therefore most important for a stable growth. This master thesis is about interregional import, as well as the strong spatial concentration of imports in the Swedish system of network. Five hypothesises are presented in the last section of chapter two. The variables to be used in the analysis are then divided into two main groups, before empirically tested in different combinations of regression models. The main conclusion of this thesis is a significant correlation between import, and the two independent variables export and firm R&amp;D, and its result goes in line with the theoretical framework of this thesis, regional specialisation in import and export nodes.

Arbetslösheten är idag ett av resultaten av den pågående lågkonjunkturen. Att vara arbetslös kan kännas psykiskt påfrestande och i längden hota delar av den sociala kompetensen. Social kompetens kan kortfattat sägas handla om förmågan att möta och kommunicera med andra människor samt anpassa sig till nya miljöer. Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan tiden som arbetslös och sociala kompetens i termerna bas- självkänsla, self-efficacy och empati samt hur situationen för den arbetslöse ser ut ifråga om hjälp och stöd från arbetsförmedlingen. En enkätundersökning genomfördes där 128 arbetslösa deltog. Resultatet visade att personer som varit arbetslösa en längre tid inte hade lägre social kompetens utifrån de utvalda delarna men att vissa av delarna enskilt påverkades av tiden som arbetslös vilket tas upp för diskussion tillsammans med resultatet av arbetsförmedlingens insatser för de arbetslösa.

Stark tro på en rättvis värld (BJW) har setts ha samband med en benägenhet att nedvärdera olycksdrabbade men även med positiva aspekter såsom stresshantering. Politiskt har BJW setts relaterad till högerorientering. Denna studie kombinerar relationen mellan BJW och politik med fokusering på attribuering av orsaker till arbetslöshet vilket tidigare förbisetts. Elever (n = 63) från gymnasium och högskola tog ställning till föreslagna orsaker till arbetslöshet och besvarade bakgrundsfrågor inklusive politisk hemvist och två olika BJW-skalor: dels en cynisk inställning till andras misslyckanden (deserved misfortune, DM), dels en förmåga att glädjas över andras framgång (deserved good fortune, DGF). DM och DM för deltagare med lågt DGF uppvisade samband med högerpolitisk orientering, vilket även korrelerade positivt med intern attribution. En tendens till korrelation mellan DM och intern attribution återfanns, men inga signifikanta samband mellan BJW och attribution. Uppdelningen av BJW samt möjligheter till och behovet av framtida forskning diskuteras utifrån resultaten.

Calmfors and Driffill in 1988 argued that there is a humpshaped relation between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures within an economy and unemployment. They collected aggregate economic data from 17 different OECD economies and ranked them according to their relative degree of centralisation to prove their model. The model was further developed by Rowthorn who in 1992, using individual data from the same countries, concluded that there is a negative linear relationship between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and wage dispersion. During the past two decades the Russian economy, as well as the Russian trade union movement, has transformed greatly. Membership rates in trade unions have fallen and bargaining leverage of trade unions vis-á-vis employers has decreased. Using data from ten sectors within the Russian economy (collected in interviews with trade union representatives in Moscow, June 2006) this essay questions whether the theoretical assumptions above hold in the Russian context. By ranking the sectors according to their relative degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and using these rankings as explanatory variables in econometric analyses with unemployment rates and wage dispersion rates as dependent variables, this essay finds little proof that the theoretical framework of Calmfors and Driffill holds within the Russian economy. However, Rowthorn’s model of centralisation and wage dispersion seems to be more valid.

There have been numerous studies, both theoretical and empirical, dealing with how the degree of experience rating affects employment. The results have been often contradicting, giving ground for ongoing debate among the economists. Here in this thesis I will present the most central studies done concerning the effects on employment induced by layoff costs and UI payroll tax in particular. A special interest will be put on the implicit-contract model, since it appears to be especially useful when studying the effects of experience rating. The theoretical approaches and the existing empirical evidence will be discussed. By doing this survey I will make an attempt in explaining and summarizing the crucial and sometimes contradicting conclusions made though the years, so that a reader unfamiliar with those concepts will be able to easily grasp.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyse how people who return to the labour market after long-term sickness absenteeism and subsequent job loss differ in employability, work ability, health, educational level, age, and gender, compared to those who do not. PARTICIPANTS: The cohort consisted of 191 individuals, 20 men and 171 women, whose employment was terminated because they had not been able to return to their regular work after taking a long-term sick leave and rehabilitation measures. METHODS: This study is based on a postal questionnaire sent out to a cohort of previous employees in a Swedish municipality in 2008. RESULTS: At the time of the survey, 39% of the respondents had returned to the labour market and the remaining 61% had not. Return to the labour market after a long-term sick leave was positively associated with male gender, young age, and work ability, i.e. the ability to work with respect to health and work-related demands. Employability, educational level, and health were not significantly associated with a return to the labour market. CONCLUSIONS: In the discourse on employability, work ability is often neglected even though it is a central aspect of an individual's ability to obtain new employment.