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1 – 10 of over 24000Evidence from a study in Middlesborough is presented in favour of the proposition that an adequate analysis of domestic labour in modern society depends on taking into account its…
Abstract
Evidence from a study in Middlesborough is presented in favour of the proposition that an adequate analysis of domestic labour in modern society depends on taking into account its content and distribution. In particular, the characteristics of the gender division of domestic labour suggest the need for an integrated theoretical approach which draws on the insights of both Marxists, concerning the development of the capitalist mode of production and feminists concerning the operation and impact of patriarchy.
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Jianghuai Zheng and Chunmiao Shen
The purpose of this paper is to propose policy recommendations that resort to the domestic market to achieve inclusive growth from an open perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose policy recommendations that resort to the domestic market to achieve inclusive growth from an open perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
How will economic globalization based on domestic demand affect economic growth and income distribution in an open and large country? With the aim of discussing the mechanism of the impact of expanding domestic demand on the inclusive growth from an open perspective, this paper incorporates the Global Value Chains vs National Value Chains (GVC-NVC) competition, which is triggered by foreign investments attracted by the domestic demand scale into an endogenous growth model with “Schumpeterian Innovation.”
Findings
Theoretical analysis indicates the following findings: although domestic demand-based economic globalization can promote transnational inclusive growth across countries, it is not conducive to national (domestic) inclusive growth; the impacting effect of domestic demand scale on inclusive growth across countries is subject to the moderating effect of the development maturity of the labor market; and the impacting effect of domestic demand scale on national inclusive growth is subject to the joint moderating effect of the development maturity of the labor market and labor skill structure.
Originality/value
First, this paper examines the impact of domestic demand-based economic globalization on the inclusiveness of economic growth from an open perspective, which deepens the existing theory of intra-product specialization and inclusive growth. Second, the paper puts the sequential production process into Schumpeterian growth model and reveals the mechanism that domestic demand affects inclusive growth. Third, the study finds that the enhancement of labor market efficiency, transfer payments to low-skilled labor and the creation of a fair competitive market environment will contribute to the globalization of a domestic demand-oriented economy, which provides a policy-making basis for government sectors.
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Malcolm Treadgold and Patrick Laplagne
Uses a one‐sector model to investigate how external labour mobility can affect the economic performance of micro‐states. In the absence of restrictions on labour market flows…
Abstract
Uses a one‐sector model to investigate how external labour mobility can affect the economic performance of micro‐states. In the absence of restrictions on labour market flows between a micro‐state and a larger economy, the micro‐state becomes virtually an extension of the large economy. It may expand or contract in total size relative to the larger economy, and gain or lose population accordingly; but the linkage of its level of real wages to the level of real wages in the larger economy constrains opportunities for independent growth in labour productivity and hence in output per capita. A labour‐exporting micro‐state will experience a more autonomous form of economic development when a binding quota on emigration detaches the domestic real wage from the foreign real wage. However, per capita growth is likely to be of a lower base than under conditions of unrestricted access.
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The purpose of this study is to provide first-hand information regarding domestic labour/labourers in Egypt. The researcher tries to investigate the information rights and needs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide first-hand information regarding domestic labour/labourers in Egypt. The researcher tries to investigate the information rights and needs of these vulnerable and marginalized groups in Egypt in terms of its thoughts, perceptions, attitudes, motivations, techniques, preferences, ways, tools and problems encountered towards using of and accessing information. The study, therefore, attempts to look at, as possible, the many different characteristics of local domestic workers in Egypt and affecting their use of and access to information.
Design/methodology/approach
Methodology used here was an adaptive form of snowball sampling of a heterogeneous demographic group of participants in the local domestic work in Egypt, used to select focus groups to explore a range of relevant issues.
Findings
Demographically, this study showed that local domestic labour in Egypt, to a great extent, is occupied and performed by women and children, and the average age of the total interviewed participants was around 31 years. Over half of participants were uneducated, followed by nearly a quarter of them were with no formal education and just a small number had some primary education. This study concluded that a large number of participants were described as illiterate and nonskilled labourers. Participants’ income proved that it was one of barriers to use of and access to information where a large number of participants were labelled as low-income workers. The information-seeking behaviour (ISB) profile of participants indicated a preference for verbal over written, informal over formal and undocumented over documented information channels and sources to solve problems relating to everyday existence using some helping tools and devices especially cell phones. The most popular information sources mentioned and followed by participants were verbal information with friends, peers and colleagues in neighbouring households either via telephones, especially cell phones, or face-to-face meeting. TV and Radio, newspapers and magazines were, respectively, the most famous formal sources participants use. Information related to work, family affairs, security and health issues was most commonly desired and wanted by participants. Participants mentioned that their priorities of accessing information were to help in work-related activities such as cooking cleaning and decorating, to know new kitchen recipes, to assist in the education of the employer’s children. Others added that they were also seeking for information for getting promoted and having some fun especially through audiovisual sources like TV and Radio. They were not commonly using libraries due to the fact that most of them were uneducated, and the education of the some others was limited. However, this study showed that there was a little and accidental use for some libraries like public and children libraries and a small number of them was using the employer’s home library. In terms of using technologies related to the use of information like the Internet, the study found such access was an issue, as a very small number of participants were using it mainly for personal information. Regarding challenges, concerns and problems faced by local domestic workers in Egypt during using of and accessing information, the study found that the most important challenges participants faced in this study were the illiteracy and lack of awareness about the basic rights and perception of information rights and needs. Other challenges like the time, psychological burdens, the social image being domestic worker, lack of accessible information channels, lack of training and skills and also lack of money needed to access information were also an issue.
Research limitations/implications
This study comes to respond strongly to the great global concern on the neglected and marginalized sector of work/workers in Egypt. It provides information on invisible forms of domestic labour/labourers, and indicates how their rights, especially towards accessing information, are violated. Any findings of this study may generate interest and create awareness on the needs and conditions of domestic labour/labourers among marginalized labour advocates, policymakers and the civil society.
Originality/value
The literature on this topic is scarce and, therefore, this paper gives important and significant insight into how to assist local domestic workers in Egypt with information needs.
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Looks at the historical positioning of housework as unpaid and questions the correctness of this idea. States that there is a fundamental theoretical error in defining housework…
Abstract
Looks at the historical positioning of housework as unpaid and questions the correctness of this idea. States that there is a fundamental theoretical error in defining housework as unpaid as market concepts are being applied to non‐market work. Continues to distinguish between the two markets considering the features of both, outlining the gender differences and the recent changes in the twentieth century.
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Laura Peutere, Päivi Rautava and Pekka Virtanen
The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether high responsibility for housework or childcare is related to weak labour market attachment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether high responsibility for housework or childcare is related to weak labour market attachment.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data on domestic responsibilities in 1998 and 2003 were linked to register data on respondents’ employment spells for 2004-2011. Effects of the responsibilities on labour market trajectories – identified with latent class growth analyses – were analysed with multinomial logistic regression analyses.
Findings
Four trajectories for labour market attachment were identified among both genders. When adjusted for prior labour market attachment and other control variables, a high responsibility for housework predicted weak labour market attachment, compared to the trajectory of strong attachment, only among men. Compared to the trajectory of strengthening attachment, a high responsibility for housework was related to weak attachment among both men and women.
Research limitations/implications
Personal orientations may, to some extent, explain both the division on domestic responsibilities and attachment to the labour market. In the Finnish type of welfare state, domestic responsibilities have long-term effects, especially on men’s careers. More attention should be given to men’s roles in families and their possible consequences.
Originality/value
This is the first study analysing the division of domestic responsibilities on later labour market attachment among both genders. The strength of this study is the long follow-up time and methodology; it combines survey data at two time points and register data on employment spells over eight years, identifying patterns in employment with latent class growth analyses.
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Arpit Gupta and Arya Kumar Srustidhar Chand
The purpose of this paper is to study the spillover effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on skilled–unskilled wage inequality in the Indian manufacturing industries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the spillover effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on skilled–unskilled wage inequality in the Indian manufacturing industries.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors show theoretically with a model of spillover that if foreign firms (receiving FDI) have a negative spillover effect on domestic firms (not receiving FDI), then the level of capital and skilled workers in the domestic firms falls down. Consequently, the authors conduct an empirical analysis by using system GMM estimation technique on the firm-level data of the Indian organised manufacturing sector.
Findings
The authors show that wage inequality worsens when there is negative spillover effects like competition spillover or skill spillover effect of FDI in India.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to measure the various spillover effects of FDI on the wage inequality in the Indian manufacturing industries by using firm-level data.
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Nguyen Quynh Phuong and Sundar Venkatesh
Adopting a view that migration is an investment, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the risk-adjusted returns that migrant domestic workers from Vietnam to Taiwan can…
Abstract
Purpose
Adopting a view that migration is an investment, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the risk-adjusted returns that migrant domestic workers from Vietnam to Taiwan can expect to earn.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyses data obtained through interviews of a sample of migrant domestic workers, all from Phu Tho in the north of Vietnam, who had migrated to Taiwan.
Findings
The study found that migrants were driven strongly by financial motivations. Analysis of the typical costs of migrating, wages in the host country, average length of stay and especially, uncertainties affecting the length of stay, found that the investment in migration is a highly risky one for migrants. In most cases, migration does not pay.
Research limitations/implications
Estimates of costs and benefits can be improved with larger samples of respondents and data sources that can help validate the interviews.
Practical implications
There is a need to improve financial literacy among migrants to help them better assess their investment in migration.
Social implications
This paper highlights the inequity in risk allocation in the context of migration.
Originality/value
To the knowledge, there is no research of the financial costs and benefits of migration as domestic workers, especially from Vietnam to Taiwan.
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This study aims to present an institutional analysis of modern slavery to understand the accountability status for domestic workers in the West Asian context, notably Lebanon…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present an institutional analysis of modern slavery to understand the accountability status for domestic workers in the West Asian context, notably Lebanon. This study also aims to explore how today’s modern age – where Internet technologies and social media platforms are highly dominant – affects modern slavery.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on conversations and secondary data such as previous studies, Internet websites and media reports published in the West Asian region, especially Lebanon.
Findings
The study found a context where different institutional factors are influential with no specific definition of accountability. The context specificities, including the misuse of Internet technologies, contributed to the migrant domestic workers’ precarious life and the absence of resistance and actions from the domestic workers’ side (account holders). Further, weak institutional settings and indigenous cultural factors have contributed to the lack of accountability and responsibility from power holders such as households and employers’ governments.
Originality/value
This study provides insights to researchers and other stakeholders concerned with socioeconomic issues in West Asia. Further, it has a social implication by highlighting the humanitarian problem of marginalised migrant domestic workers traveling from poor African and South Asian countries to West Asian countries and indicating to the broader society’s social responsibility or duty concerning this problem.
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The purpose of this paper is to use the case of white immigrant women domestics’ experiences in migration to demonstrate that their work experiences are different due to their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use the case of white immigrant women domestics’ experiences in migration to demonstrate that their work experiences are different due to their whiteness. While their racial identity provides them with white privileges, they still face discrimination based on their occupational and immigrant statuses. The case study adds to existing literature on domestic service.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study is based on several years of ethnographic work. The author conducted in‐depth interviews with Polish immigrant women and white female employers. The author also held focus groups with Polish women.
Findings
White immigrant women from Poland do not automatically assume the white racial identity in the USA. Their whiteness is constructed and reinforced through their interactions with their white female employers. Their whiteness renders their experiences different from racial minority women and immigrant women of color. However, Polish domestics construct their positive work identity to counteract the negative images about them and domestic service as an occupation.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation the author sees is that the author could have conducted interviews with Mexican immigrant women to compare the differences in terms of their working conditions.
Practical implications
While Polish domestics seem to have better experiences than other groups of immigrant women, domestic workers are excluded from the labor law. They are thus without the protection of labor law. It is important for us to work for the right of immigrant workers to eradicate the inequality in society.
Social implications
This case shows that the transnational labor migration contributes to further inequality in society since it is usually the migrant workers who take up the low skilled or unskilled work that has few possibilities for promotion and has few benefits. The government needs to address the transnational migration process and the exploitation of migrant workers ensuing from the process.
Originality/value
Polish immigrant women are a unique group of women mainly because they are among the few white women who perform domestic service. Their experiences are different from racial minority women and immigrant women of color. Merging the whiteness approach and domestic service is an innovative approach.
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