The Impact of the Unemployment Rate on Unemployment Benefits in Barbados: An Impulse Response Approach

The purpose of this article is to determine how the rate of unemployment will impact on unemployment benefits in Barbados using annual data from 1982 to 2009 with the use of an impulse response function. The results show that when a shock is applied to the rate of unemployment, which causes it to rise, unemployment benefits will contract marginally and this reaction will not stabilize until the 14th period when a new equilibrium will be attained. Since this new equilibrium will lie below the original equilibrium, rising unemployment will impact negatively on unemployment benefits although this decline will only be marginal.     

Economic voting in Britain, 1857–1914

Despite limited government control over the pre-1914 economy, opposition politicians were enthusiastic in blaming bad economic news on the incumbent. In a study of 458 by-elections between 1857 and 1914, we find that voters typically gave new governments a 'honeymoon' but thereafter held them responsible for high unemployment and high prices. Each 1% rise in the price level, on average, brought about a 0.21% swing against the government of the day, while each one-point rise in the percentage unemployed had double this effect. However, when we split the electorate into borough and county constituencies, economic voting appears to be confined to the former.     

The electoral impact of the financial crisis: Evidence using district-level data

Do economic downturns increase voter support for left or right parties? In our empirical analysis, we combine fine-grained registry-data on the labor market impact of the crisis and how it varied across 5000 electoral districts, with district-level data on vote-shares for all major parties in Swedish parliamentary elections before and after the crisis. Because the impact was so diverse across districts, we can estimate the electoral impact of unemployment more efficiently than usual. Moreover, because the crisis was an external and unexpected shock to the Swedish economy, we argue that the selection bias that is usually inherent in estimating the electoral impact of unemployment is mitigated. We find that the electoral impact of crisis-induced unemployment was large, benefiting right parties.     

论加强失业保险之促进再就业功能

在失业保险中 ,单纯强调其生活保障功能已经很难应付我国日益严峻的失业问题 ,我们必须探寻一种积极的失业保险机制才能应付日益庞大的失业队伍的挑战。因此 ,本文旨在从加强失业保险的促进再就业功能的必要性、现存问题及对策方面来寻求解决失业问题的有效途径     

Problem Drinking, Unemployment, and Intimate Partner Violence among a Sample of Construction Industry Workers and their Partners

The purpose of this study is to determine the contribution of male unemployment and each partner’s problem drinking to risk for male-to-female partner violence (MFPV) and female-to-male partner violence (FMPV) among a sample of construction industry workers and their spouses/partners. Participants in the sample (n = 848 couples) completed cross-sectional health behavior surveys. Multivariate logistic regression models of MFPV and FMPV, with adjustment for demographic and psychosocial variables, were developed. Approximately 20% of couples reported MFPV, and 24% reported FMPV. Results indicated that couples in which the male was a problem drinker, and in which the male worker reported being currently unemployed, were at risk for MFPV. Number of months unemployed by the male worker was significantly associated with FMPV, but problem drinking was not associated with this outcome. Male and female impulsivity were significantly associated with risk for MFPV and FMPV, and the male’s report of adverse childhood events was associated with increased likelihood of MFPV. There was no evidence for the effects of unemployment being moderated (exacerbated) by problem drinking. Workplace-based prevention efforts may be a feasible and important strategy to reduce problem drinking and partner violence among high-risk occupational groups.     

UNEMPLOYMENT AND PROPERTY CRIME: A TARGET‐SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT OF OPPORTUNITY AND MOTIVATION AS MEDIATING FACTORS*

Most recent unemployment‐crime (U‐C) research is informed by the possibility that unemployment could both increase motivation for crime and decrease criminal opportunities. The mediating links of motivation and opportunity, though often assumed, have almost never been measured. We directly test for the potential mediating effects of opportunity and motivation using county‐level data for target‐specific crime rates such as convenience store robberies, motorcycle thefts, etc. We link these with data on the supply and value of corresponding crime targets (e.g., number and annual sales of convenience stores). Opportunity levels were generally unrelated to property crime rates and do not appear to mediate the U‐C relationship.     

Reviews

Books reviewed:
Hassig Time, History and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico
Baskes Indians, Merchants, and Markets: A Reinterpretation of the Repartimiento and Spanish-Indian Economic Relations in Colonial Oaxaca, 1750–1821
Caldeira City of Walls: Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in São Paulo
Caulfield In Defense of Honor: Sexual Morality, Modernity, and Nation in Early-Twentieth-Century Brazil
Earle Rumours of Wars: Civil Conflict in Nineteenth-Century Latin America
Clarke Class, Ethnicity, and Community in Southern Mexico: Oaxaca's Peasantries
Jones and Munck, (eds) Cultural Politics in Latin America
CEDLA FRONTERAS: Towards A Borderless Latin America
Tulchin and Garland Social Development in Latin America. The Politics of Reform
Paley Marketing Democracy: Power and Social Movements in Post-Dictatorship Chile
Crabtree and Whitehead (eds) Towards Democratic Viability: The Bolivian Experience
Bailey and Godson (eds) Organized Crime and Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.–Mexican Borderlands
Adams Dollar Diplomacy: United States Economic Assistance to Latin America
Smith (ed.) Democracy and International Relations: Critical Theories/Problematic Practices
Angell, Lowden Thorpe Decentralizing Development: The Political Economy of Institutional Change in Colombia and Chile
Itzigsohn Developing Poverty: The State, Labor Market Deregulation, and the Informal Economy in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic
Nencel Ethnography and Prostitution in Peru
Potter Deeper than Debt: Economic globalisation and the poor     

宁夏失业保险实施现状、问题与建议

目前,宁夏失业保险制度日益趋向完善,正处于保障失业人员基本生活,促就业、稳就业,维护社会稳定,助力各项重大改革的重要阶段。研究宁夏失业保险的现状、存在的问题,对于进一步推动宁夏失业保险事业的发展具有重要意义。     

强化失业保险的保障功能加快下岗与失业并轨

下岗与失业双轨制在实践过程中出现了诸多问题 ,完善和统一失业保险制度是实现下岗和失业并轨的关键所在。要做到这一点 ,必须完善失业保险制度 ,确立筹集失业保险金的制度化渠道 ,强化失业保险金扩面征缴 ,提高失业保险的保障功能 ,以解决现时“三三”制难以保障失业保险基金足额到位的问题。为此 ,工会在实行厂务公开、参与社会保险基金征缴与发放等方面应积极维护职工权益。     

新加坡的职业再造计划及其启示

为降低日益严重的结构性失业问题对劳动力市场的冲击,新加坡工会、雇主、政府三方合作推出职业再造计划,试图通过提升职业形象、改善劳动条件、在提高效率的基础上提高工资的方法增加这些职业的吸引力,并在现有职业的基础上识别和发掘出更多的就业机会以利新加坡人就业。新加坡的经验对中国解决结构性失业问题提供了有益的启示。