Search Results (37)

The choice between domestic and foreign production is one of the most important decisions not only for international business management but also for economic diplomacy and industrial policy. The reality is not a binary choice, but some firms use both. Why do companies maintain labour-intensive production in developed countries in the globalised world? To understand business challenges and strategies, this study examines small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the garment factory agglomeration in the North (Kenpoku) area of Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The in-depth case study, with a special focus on the six competitiveness factors of Japanese apparel firms, recognises that the ‘Made in Japan’ branding strategy is one of the effective ways to attract Japanese customers. This marketing strategy may motivate some firms to consider international market development. However, most Japanese SME apparel manufacturers play the role of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for specific domestic market-oriented apparel companies. To meet customers’ strict delivery requirements, our case SMEs are developing multi-skilled workers to cope with high-mix small-lot production and fast delivery simultaneously. This management innovation is essential for building long-term business relationships and trust with corporate apparel buyers and surviving competition from products made in China and other developing countries. Full article

The dynamic impact of financial market capitalisation on South Africa’s unemployment and economic growth is empirically explored in this study using the finance-augmented Solow model framework. South Africa’s high rate of structural unemployment and its robust financial market, which is at the same standard as those in countries with advanced economies, served as the driving force for the study. Evidence for the dynamic link is presented by a time series analysis that employed the VECM model. South Africa continues to face persistent macroeconomic issues, including stagnant economic growth, declining investment, and rising unemployment. Market capitalisation, net acquisition of financial assets, and foreign direct investment all have a favourable and substantial effect on economic growth. According to VECM estimation results, unemployment has a detrimental effect on economic growth. Also, market capitalisation has significant positive effects on economic growth. Unemployment and economic growth are inversely related, thus unemployment has an adverse effect on economic growth. According to the findings, financial markets have distinct effects on economic growth because of their various functions within the economy. It was also shown that foreign direct investment has a crucial role in increasing economic growth. This implies the important role that the financial market and systems have in South Africa’s economic growth. The article advises authorities to keep enacting measures to boost capital market growth to increase employment, while also making sure that other structural issues affecting the labour market are effectively addressed to stimulate job creation. Full article

Using panel data of Chinese cities from 2006 to 2020, this study constructs the carbon emission performance index from the perspective of the dual differences in the four stages of growth, maturity, decline and regeneration of eastern, central, western and resource-based cities (RBCs). This study employs the Dagum Gini coefficient and kernel density estimation to explore σ convergence and β convergence for understanding the dual differences, dynamic evolutionary trend and convergence. Results indicate that during the sample period, the carbon emission performance index of RBCs shows a fluctuating upward trend with regional and typological imbalance influenced by geographical location and division of labour. The carbon emission performance index of RBCs of different regions and types (Growing, Mature, Declining and Regenerative) shows a fluctuating downward trend. However, the carbon emission performance index gap between the 116 RBCs in China is gradually expanding, further corroborating the influence of “excellent but outliers”. The overall level of carbon emission performance index of RBCs exhibits σ convergence, absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence phenomena. Notably, growing and regenerative RBCs demonstrate a clear “catching-up” trend compared to mature and declining RBCs. Furthermore, the inclusion of control variables reveals varying degrees of increased convergence speed. Environmental regulation intensity (ERI), gross domestic product (GDP), energy consumption structure (ECS), technology development level (T), industrial structure (IS) and foreign direct investment demonstrate significant regional and type heterogeneity in the changes in the carbon emission performance index of RBCs. Finally, based on the analysis results, implications are proposed to enhance the carbon emission performance of RBCs of different types, as well as at the national and regional levels. Full article

Singapore’s aquaculture sector is critical to achieving the nation’s ‘30 by 30’ food security goal, which aims to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030. However, the sector faces several significant challenges. Limited land and water resources, high operational costs, disease outbreaks, reliance on imported seedstock, and environmental impact are among the key issues. Additionally, the industry struggles with a shortage of skilled manpower and high dependency on foreign labour. This study explores these challenges in detail and suggests potential solutions to enhance the sustainability and productivity of Singapore’s aquaculture. Innovative farming techniques such as recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) and vertical farming, advanced water quality management, and the adoption of renewable energy sources are recommended to address space and cost constraints. Developing local breeding facilities, enhancing education and training programs, and adopting sustainable practices are also crucial. The establishment of a national hatchery and increased investment in research and development (R&D) are essential for long-term growth. By implementing these strategies, Singapore can overcome the challenges in its aquaculture sector and ensure a sustainable future for local food production. Full article

This paper examines the effects of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the female employment rate in the economy and the share of female employment across sectors. The empirical analysis is implemented through the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) System estimator for dynamic panel models using different empirical specifications and FDI openness indicators. The main results show that the overall effects of inward FDI on the national female employment rate are not statistically significant. However, they reveal that inward FDI has promoted the share of female employment in the service sector and has led to decreases in the share of female employment in agriculture. The FDI effects on the share of female employment in the industrial sector are found to be statistically insignificant. These results are generally supported when running the empirical analysis through alternative FDI openness indicators. Also, supplementary analysis reveals some variations in the magnitude of these effects over different national income categories. The findings in this paper emphasize FDI’s gendered influences in the labour market. They are consistent with the prevalence of macroeconomic channels through which inward FDI impacts female employment across sectors, and they encompass the underlying implications of various counteracting microeconomic factors. Full article

This essay is based on a case study of international medical graduates (IMGs) in Canada who migrated from sub-Saharan Africa. The chapter examines how narratives of race are situated and deployed in the field of medicine and can produce some aversive social–psychological landscapes in the credentialing and the professional-entry process as it relates to persons of African descent. It will show that, often without predetermination or intent, professionals of African descent in Canada are highly susceptible to implicit racial associations and implicit racial stereotyping in relation to evaluations of character, credentials, and culture. The article exposes some of the critical intersections of common experience, such as: (a) cultural deficit bias—Whiteness as an institutionalized cultural capital attribute; (b) confirmation bias—reaching a negative conclusion and working backwards to find evidence to support it; (c) repurposed sub-Saharan Blackness stereotypes—binary forms of techno-scamming and fraud; and (d) biased deception judgement—where the accuracy of deception judgements deteriorates when made across cultures. These social psychological phenomena result in significantly disproportionate returns on their foreign education and labour market experience for Black medical professionals that require decisive efforts in changing the narratives. Full article

Agricultural employment in advanced economies has been suggestively described as a “short and step” pyramid with only limited opportunities for workers to climb to higher positions, especially when they belong to the most vulnerable categories, such as migrants. The presence of poor jobs and living conditions for temporary agricultural workers reported by mass media, trade unions, NGOs, and international observers contrasts dramatically with the idea of a modern and thriving sector, as the Italian agricultural sector should be, and it represents a challenge for the social concerns that have been alongside environmental ones in the definition of sustainability since the Brundtland Report released in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Even mechanisation does not necessarily facilitate better working conditions. In fact, where the workforce is largely replaced by machineries, the remaining opportunities for paid workers are mainly for unskilled, physically demanding, and seasonal jobs. This has brought about the so-called “paradox of prosperity”, where the gap between farm and nonfarm workers in economically advanced countries has widened in terms of wages, benefits, and prospects for upward mobility. This in turn triggers a vicious circle with a structural lack of available workforce for the sector, which has been increasingly provided by migrants with very little bargaining power. On the other hand, the adoption of new technologies and digitalisation in agriculture is leading to an increasing demand for skilled workers, which often remains uncovered because of the low conditions offered. Against this background, the aim of our work is twofold. First, we characterise the role of the foreign workforce in relation to the structural changes in Italian agriculture and considering territorial differences. Second, we examine the main policy instruments to facilitate recruitment and tackle undeclared work and more specifically the Quality Agricultural Work Network (Rete del lavoro agricolo di qualità) launched in Italy in 2016 to tackle undeclared work and exploitative labour. We do so by conducting a literature review and semi-structured qualitative interviews with 16 farmers in Italy carried out in 2022 within the project Rural Social ACT funded by the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (2021–2027). The results show that even though foreign workers are a key resource for agriculture in Italy, there remain severe recruitment issues and segregation in low-skilled and precarious jobs. Overall, it is necessary to improve the awareness of the key role of work in agriculture and to strengthen the effectiveness of tools to enhance the visibility of compliant farms. So far (January 2024), only 6600 farms have joined the Quality Agricultural Work Network, with an overall modest enthusiasm from the farmers interviewed about its current effectiveness. Other instruments are explored such as employee sharing contracts, and there clearly emerges a need for public support of professional training through the Common Agricultural Policy to improve both the bargaining power of foreign workers and the productivity of the sector. Full article

This paper underlines the significance of free trade agreements in attracting foreign direct investment and their impact on the operational capacities of local firms in host countries. It argues that free trade agreements do not only eliminate barriers to trade, but they also increase the size of the regional market and improve the business environment, making it more attractive to foreign direct investment, along with all the attributes and spillover effects associated with it. While determining the type of spillover effects of foreign direct investment associated with Oman’s trade agreements, this paper uses the Kruskal–Wallis H-test and 438 samples from companies surveyed between 1 August and 31 October 2023 to assess the impact of spillovers on the performance of the surveyed companies. The results reveal that technology transfer, knowledge transfer, labour productivity, product efficiency, capital investments, and job creation have positive effects on the firms’ operational capacities, with technology transfer having the highest impact (27%), followed by labour productivity and job creation (18%). The spillover effects are almost the same for company size and percentage of ownership. They also identified manufacturing and tourism as priority sectors and the availability of a skilled workforce as a major challenge. These findings make original contribution to the field as this is probably the first study to produce a firm-level analysis of spillover effects of foreign direct investment and trade agreements in the context of Oman and the wider Gulf region. The paper concludes with practical implications for policy makers when negotiating trade agreements and designing investment policies to optimize spillover effects on the performance of their domestic firms. Full article

This article explores the barriers and the strategies of a group of highly educated foreign women to obtain a job-education matching situation in the Basque Country (Spain) where they all permanently settled following a binational heterosexual marriage. Drawing on 21 biographical interviews with women from Latin America and Europe, we examine new perspectives on the complexity and fluidity between their professional pathways and family projects. For that, we apply an intersectional lens to analyse their life experience. Our results show that respondents involved in a feminised labour market (education and health) have fewer difficulties to find a job-education match. In other cases, becoming self-employed is a way to gain independence and flexibility by running an open market-oriented business. Interviewees identified language, lack of personal networks, family reconciliation, traditional gender roles and the transferring of cultural capital as the main barriers for their incorporation into the labour market. The study finds that marriage support is not enough to overcome the barriers. We argue that for a more comprehensive understanding of labour integration of highly educated migrant women, motivation and agency, linked to family support, should be considered factors to cope with structural inequalities. Full article

Background: This study aims to explore how domestic entrepreneurs can benefit from the thriving global agribusiness by establishing themselves in agro-industrial segments that can best remunerate capital and labour. The ways in which domestic entrepreneurs in Brazil enter different segments of the agribusiness industry were assessed with specific attention to implications for the development of local agro-industrial capabilities. Methods: We assessed the current market share of domestic companies in relation to foreign multinationals in various segments of the sugar and ethanol supply chain in Brazil. Results: Foreign multinationals are market leaders in the fertilizers, machinery and trading segments (domestic companies market share is 20.3%, 33.3% and 42.9% in those segments respectively). However, Brazilian companies have achieved higher market share in segments such as plant breeding, sugarcane processing and farming (domestic market share is 93.2%, 67.4% and 75.5% respectively). Plant breeding, farming and trading benefit from governmental support in research, subsidized credits and market policies respectively. Conclusions: By investing in agro-industrial sectors developing countries can benefit from agribusiness expansion for their economic growth. Investments in science and technology and domestic regulatory actions can help to build country capabilities, although the impacts are sometimes limited to the agro-industrial sectors where domestic companies are more competitive. These lessons can help other developing countries to assess their opportunities and challenges for agro-industrial development. Full article

This paper aims to study ethnic micro-segregation in Rome, namely, high residential concentrations of ethnic groups at the micro-area level within neighbourhoods with low concentrations of these groups, with a focus on specific situations of spatial inequality often overlooked in the debate. The Italian capital is one of the five most populous cities in the European Union and a multi-ethnic metropolis with relatively low levels of segregation. It is an urban context that has been little studied, partly due to the lack of reliable and granular data. This work is based on unpublished individual data from the 2020 population register, disaggregated into 155 neighbourhoods and 13,656 census tracts with average populations of about 18,000 and 200 residents, respectively. The five minority groups considered, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Filipinos, Romanians, and migrants from developed economy countries (DECs), add up to 55% of the total foreign residents and show different settlement patterns. The concept of micro-segregated area (MSA) is central to the scope of the analysis. An MSA is a census tract that shows a strong over-representation of a specific ethnic group despite being located within a neighbourhood where that group is under-represented. MSAs can be considered ‘interstitial’ micro-areas embedded in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. Descriptive analysis based on location quotient (LQ) mapping and bivariate logistic models is developed to highlight (a) differences in the settlement patterns of minority ethnic groups; (b) differences in the micro-segregation of minority ethnic groups in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, settlement location, and socioeconomic status; and (c) the particular characteristics of minority ethnic groups underlying these differences. The findings indicate that differences in settlement patterns can be related to the interplay between real estate constraints and labour market specialisation. National specificities in micro-segregation are mainly linked to length of stay, but the models of the Asian groups do not offer any empirical support for the spatial assimilation hypothesis, unlike those of Romanians and DECs citizens. Further development of this research will aim to explore segregation patterns and motivations to move to MSAs using a mixed method approach. Full article

Cotton gin trash (CGT) is composed of fibre residues, leaves, dust particles, soil, and other materials derived during the ginning and yarn-spinning process in processing industries. In the cotton-spinning industrial clusters, farmers are using CGT as one of the alternative roughage feeds for their sheep, mainly during forage shortages in the summer months. Baseline information on farmers using gin and the factors driving them to choose CGT as a roughage source needs to be identified for future planning regarding the usage of CGT in sheep feeding. Considering the above facts, the present study was undertaken to assess the socio-personal characteristics and managemental practices associated with farmers using cotton gin in the feeding of sheep; also, it was conducted to identify the factors driving the choice of the CGT as the primary source of roughage in the cotton-spinning industry cluster of Tamil Nadu, India. For this, a survey among 80 sheep farmers was carried out using a pre-tested interview schedule. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and logit regression. The results indicated that the majority of male, aged, and large-land farmers were involved in practicing CGT feeding during the summer and also indicated the non-availability of green fodder during the same period of time. The coarse type of CGT is preferred over the fine type of CGT trash in that area due to quality perception and price. The replacement level of CGT as roughage ranged from 33 to 75% of the total roughage requirement per day. About 88% of farmers were highly satisfied with the results of using CGT and they also expressed that the presence of foreign particles and dust was the major problem with using CGT. The choice of CGT as primary roughage among sheep farmers was primarily influenced by selective farming contexts, namely, landholding, access to labour, and the feeding practices of other livestock with cotton gin. Furthermore, research needs to be focused on improving the quality of CGT in the future as it is being utilised largely by sheep farmers. Full article

Despite growing evidence of racial and institutional discrimination on minoritized communities and its negative effect on health, there are still gaps in the current literature identifying health disparities among minoritized communities. This review aims to identify health barriers faced by relatively less studied migrant subgroups including documented temporary foreign workers and refugees residing in high-income Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries focusing on the structural origins of differential health outcomes. We searched Medline, CINAHL, and Embase databases for papers describing health barriers for these groups published in English between 1 January 2011 and 30 July 2021. Two independent reviewers conducted a title, abstract, and full text screening with any discrepancies resolved by consensus or a third reviewer. Extracted data were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis. Of the 381 articles that underwent full-text review, 27 articles were included in this review. We identified housing conditions, immigration policies, structural discrimination, and exploitative labour practices as the four major emerging themes that impacted the health and the access to healthcare services of our study populations. Our findings highlight the multidimensional nature of health inequities among migrant populations and a need to examine how the broader context of these factors influence their daily experiences. Full article

This report provides an overview of the skilled migrant health workforce and their contribution to health systems in European countries, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrant workers at all skill levels have worked in key areas during the pandemic. Skilled migrant health workers, particularly medical practitioners and nurses, make up a significant portion of the frontline health workforce and are essential to keeping health systems in developed countries running. While skilled migrants often face fewer hard barriers (entry control policies: visa policy, work permit schemes, labour migration quotas), this workforce faces soft barriers (e.g., lack of recognition of foreign educational credentials and other restrictive or discriminatory measures) in accessing the host nation’s labour market, as evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article explores this phenomenon, focusing on Italy’s health sector and foreign health professionals’ dynamics. The report concludes by proffering some practical policy recommendations to promote the inclusion of migrant health professionals in the health and social care systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the majority of rising economies since 2020. The economic effects of the majority of countries were mixed as a result of the lockdown measure they enacted. Economic conditions have a significant impact on the spread of pandemics, as history has proved. This article concentrates on India in order to ascertain the relationship between migration, FDI, and COVID-19. We undertake this study to determine whether labour movement (in/out) inside COVID-19 has an effect on FDI influx. Our research—based on qualitative secondary sources—reveals that multinational corporations prefer native workers over imported personnel in India due to the country’s abundant skilled manpower. This implies that multinational corporations can replace foreign workers with locally employed workers if they can find suitable candidates among the local labour force. According to our findings, FDI and skilled migration to India appear to be linked. Full article