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This study aims to investigate whether social investment (SI) policies improve employment among single mothers.

This paper analyzes the potential effects of SI policies on vulnerable individuals and workers at the macro level by using the employment position of single mothers as a dependent variable. Time-series cross-national data from 18 OECD countries between 1998 and 2017 are analyzed. Multilevel model analysis is also used for robustness check.

I find that public spending on education and family support is positively associated with the employment rates of single mothers. In contrast, active labor market policy (ALMP) spending is negatively associated. ALMP’s negative effects stand out particularly with public spending on job training. Of all family support policies, family allowances are positively associated with single mothers’ employment, which runs counter to the conventional argument that family allowances are a disincentive for women’s or mothers’ employment. Paid leave (length and generosity) is also associated with higher employment for single mothers. There is also some tentative evidence that public spending on maternity leave benefits (spending level) may raise the odds of single mothers being employed, when individual-level factors are controlled for in multilevel analysis we implement for robustness check.

This paper does not analyze the effects of the qualitative properties of SI policies. Future research is necessary in this respect.

The effects of SI policies on employment among single mothers have not yet been examined in the literature. This paper seeks to be a first cut at measuring the effects.

This study aims to investigate the effect of the tourism sector on employment in 13 Mediterranean countries. In addition, the impact of economic growth and inflation rate, which are included in the analysis as control variables, on the employment rate are investigated.

For this study, data from 1995 to 2018 and the ratio of the employed population, the number of international tourist arrivals, the annual growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP) and the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) were used. First, the authors investigated the relationship between variables using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds Test with Sharp and Smooth Breaks. Then, after determining the significant cointegration relationship, the long-term and short-term coefficients were also estimated.

The results show a cointegration relationship for Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Malta and Tunisia. Tourism demand has a positive effect on all these countries and economic growth positively affects the employment rate only in Greece, Israel and Tunisia. Besides, the inflation rate has a negative effect in Israel and Tunisia and a positive effect in Malta. Overall, the authors' results provide important policy suggestions, such as the training of the employees in the tourism sector should be improved to keep up with the requirements of the times.

The impact of the tourism sector on total employment varies from country to country. In particular, the employment creation policies of the sector need to be changed by taking technological changes into consideration.

Since tourism is a labor-intensive sector, tourism's impact on employment is an important research topic. However, whether this effect applies to all countries is debatable. Furthermore, the development of technology can also reduce employment in labor-intensive sectors. Therefore, this research can be regarded as important as this research addresses such a critical current issue and suggests a novel econometric method such as the ARDL Bounds Test with Sharp and Smooth Breaks.

This study aims to empirically analyze the impact of technological innovation on the quantity and quality of employment in the hospitality industry.

Using the data of 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2020, this paper makes an empirical analysis through the fixed effect model.

The results show that process innovation has a significant positive impact on employment quantity, while product innovation has a significant negative impact on employment quantity. The creative effect of process innovation and the substitution effect of product innovation offset each other, so in the long run, the impact of technological innovation on employment quantity is not significant. However, technological innovation has significantly improved the employment quality of the hospitality industry.

Because technological innovation has replaced part of the labor force, hospitality could guide the labor force in a positive direction. To promote innovation and retain talents, hotels should train employees’ digital thinking and attract high-skilled talents.

This research is unique in using process innovation and product innovation as the main measurement indicators of technological innovation, unlike previous studies that often relied on technological progress to conclude.

This paper aims to review the literature extensively by analysing recent work and providing a guide for models, data sets and research findings.

This paper reviews the literature extensively by analysing recent work and providing a guide for models, data sets and research findings within the context of capital market imperfections. The authors further break down the literature into closer-in-nature categories for reader’s convenience and comprehension. Finally, the authors address gaps in the existing literature and propose government policies that can tone down the potential effect of credit rationing on employment.

This paper provides a map of the literature so as to help future researchers in the relevant literature and give a short insight of what has been explored so far.

This paper is original and is the result of a thorough review of an extensive literature.

The farm sector is crucial for rural poverty alleviation, alongside the non-farm sector, which contributes to mitigating risks associated with crop failures. This paper investigates the effects of public policies on productive employment within both the farm and non-farm sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.

A meta-analysis is conducted exclusively on the results of the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP)-funded studies under the Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment (PAGE II) initiative. Selected studies focused on the impact of public policies on productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors, encompassing a total of nine sub-Saharan Africa countries in: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

The results indicate that public investments in rural areas and public policies that facilitate access to productive resources are likely to enhance productive employment. The overall effect size is positive and significant, ranging from 2% to 10% increases in productive employment. Sources of variation include the sector of activity and the policy instrument. In addition, the policy effects are gender-sensitive and seem more consistent in the non-farm sector.

Although the selected working papers addressed several aspects of productive employment, other aspects warrant further investigation. Policies involving restrictions or regulations have received little attention in the impact analysis. Researches to fill this gap would be important. Another suggestion for further research is the analysis of the relative importance of non-farm employment in rural areas in developing countries. It is always assumed that rural households depend heavily on agriculture for their subsistence.

The contribution of the paper lies in the comparative analysis of numerous public policies implemented in nine distinct countries. By consolidating data from fourteen 14 different experiences into a single study, the paper offers valuable insights on factors that determine policy effectiveness and contribute to understanding what worked for whom and why.

High levels of youth unemployment in Africa, the difficulty of accessing salaried jobs, and the weakness of public institutions in charge of employment issues push youths towards informal channels that can help them find jobs. Among these informal channels, religion has been playing an increasingly important role. Thus, this study aimed to analyse the effects of religion on youths' access to self-employment.

This study used data from the survey on the improvement of youth employment policies in Francophone Africa—conducted in 2018 by the Laboratory for Economic and Social Research and Studies (LARES) of Marien Ngouabi University—to estimate the effects of religion on access to self-employment. The econometric model employed is a two-stage model. Conditional mixed process developed by Roodman (2011) was used to verify the model's robustness.

The results indicate that religion exhibits a positive and significant effect on access to self-employment. This effect is stronger for youths from Muslim communities than for those from other religious communities, compared to youths who do not engage in religious communities.

Based on the current dynamics observed in numerous African countries with respect to employment access, these results imply that religious denominations should be considered when developing policies and programs related to employment, particularly for youths.

The approach followed in this study contributes to the literature predominantly by demonstrating how the network theory approach helps explain, to some extent, the link between religion and access to employment in general and access to self-employment, particularly in developing economies—mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the recourse to informal channels of access to self-employment constitutes a significant solution approach for youths.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2023-0097

We enquire whether short-time work (STW) avoids firings as intended by policymakers and is associated with unintended side effects by subsidising some establishments and locking in some employees. Additionally, where it was feasible, establishments used working from home (WFH) to continue working without risking an increase in COVID-19 infections and allowing employed parents to care for children attending closed schools.

Using 21 waves of German high-frequency establishment panel data collected during the COVID-19 crisis, we investigate how STW and WFH are associated with hirings, firings, resignations and excess labour turnover (or churning).

Our results show the important influences of STW and working from home on employment dynamics during the pandemic. By means of STW, establishments are able to avoid an increase in involuntary layoffs and hiring decreases significantly. In contrast, WFH is associated with a rise in resignations, as can be expected from a theoretical perspective.

While most of the literature on STW and WFH is unrelated and remains descriptive, we consider them in conjunction and conduct panel data analyses. We apply data and methods that allow for the dynamic pattern of STW and working from home during the pandemic. Furthermore, our data include relevant establishment-level variables, such as the existence of a works council, employee qualifications, establishment size, the degree to which the establishment was affected by the COVID-19 crisis, industry affiliation and a wave indicator for the period the survey was conducted.

This study aims to examine the effects of vocational training programs for people with disabilities on their income.

It conducted a multinomial regression analysis of 10,469 survey responses from 31 provincial administrative areas in mainland China.

It finds the following antecedents all influence the trainees’ self-reported income, including their perception of the quality of the program, the training subject, the degree of consistency between their current job and this subject, their employment sector, their motivation and access to training resources and the geographical location of the program.

The findings are not representative of people with disabilities across mainland China because the respondents were not randomly sampled.

The findings suggest that to increase the income of people with disabilities, the training can be designed according to the needs of employers by teaching subjects relevant to the needs of the labor market, reaching out to motivated trainees and enhancing the quality of training. Training institutions, employers and governments are recommended to work together to integrate class-based learning with workplace-based learning and practices. More training resources can be devoted to the self-employed people with disabilities or those who operate in the informal sector and are in less-developed areas.

The improvement of employment opportunities and income of people with disabilities supports the safeguarding of their social economic rights and the building of an inclusive society.

Few studies have empirically explored and explained the effects of vocational training programs on people with disabilities’ income. This article fills this gap by assessing the performance of China's vocational training programs funded by the Federation of Disabled Persons at all levels.

This study examines the effect of social media marketing on voting intention applying a combination of fuzzy logic methodology and a multidimensional panel data model.

The study adopts a multidimensional panel data method that includes several fixed effects. The dependent variable is a multifaceted construct that measures the participants’ intention to vote. The independent variables are electronic word of mouth (eWOM), customisation (CUS), entertainment (ENT), interaction (INT), trendiness (TRD), candidate’s perceived image (CPI), religious beliefs (RB), gender and age. The grouping variables that signify fixed effects are employment status, level of education, mostly used social media and religion. First, the significance of said fixed effects was tested through an ANOVA process. Then, the main model was estimated, including the significant grouping variables as fixed effects.

Employment status and level of education were significant fixed effects. Also, eWOM, ENT, INT, CPI, RB and gender significantly affected participants’ voting intention.

Being based on a questionnaire that asked participants about how they perceive different aspects of social media, the present study is limited to their perceptions. Therefore, further studies covering the voters’ behaviour in action could be efficient complements to the present study.

The findings could guide the political parties into prioritizing the aspects of social media in forming an effective campaign resulting in being elected.

The findings have the potential to help the public in making better informed decisions when voting. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate applications for social media which are beyond leisure time fillers.

Fuzzy logic and multidimensional panel data estimates are this study’s novelty and originality. Structural equation modelling and crisp linguistic values have been used in previous studies on social media’s effect on voting intent. The former refines the data gathered from a questionnaire, and the latter considers the possibility of including different grouping factors to achieve a more efficient and less biased estimation.

Financial inclusion can be proxied by banking status. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential effects of financial capability on the financial fragility of US adults with various banking statuses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study utilized the 2021 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) dataset to investigate the relationship between financial capability and financial fragility among consumers with different banking statuses. The analysis controlled for employment shocks, health shocks and other consumer characteristics. Banking statuses included fully banked, under-banked (utilizing both banking and alternative financial services) and unbanked individuals. Logistic regression analyses were conducted on both the entire sample and subsamples based on banking statuses.

The results showed that financial capability was negatively associated with financial fragility. The magnitude of the potential negative effect of financial capability was the greatest among the fully banked group, followed by the underbanked and unbanked groups. Respondents who were underbanked or unbanked were more likely to experience financial fragility than those who were fully banked. Additionally, respondents who were laid off or furloughed during the pandemic were more likely to experience financial fragility than those without employment shocks. The effect size of financial capability factors was greater than that of COVID-19 shock factors. These results suggest that higher levels of both financial capability and financial inclusion may be effective in reducing the risk of financial fragility.

This study represents one of the first attempts to examine the potential effects of financial capability on financial fragility among consumers with various banking statuses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, this study offers new evidence to determine whether COVID-19 shocks, as measured by health and employment status, are associated with financial fragility. Additionally, the effect size of financial capability factors is greater than that of COVID-19 shock factors. The results from the 2021 NFCS dataset provide valuable insights for banking professionals and public policymakers on how to enhance consumer financial wellbeing.