Amalia Cristescu

Labour Market Analysis in the Central and Eastern European Countries

Over the last twenty years, Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) experienced a specific pattern of economic and social evolution. In the post-communism period these countries have initiated a comprehensive process of catching-up the capitalist economies. This process involved a series of institutional reforms and the liberalization and integration of some important markets (capital market, labor market, etc.). In these circumstances, the actual economic crisis represented a major challenge for these economies, which moreover were quite affected and the recovery is slow. For the purpose of the statistic data analysis, we decided to form two groups of countries, based on their history, background and recent development. We first made an analysis of the evolution of macroeconomic indicators to see how economic policy measures were favourable overcoming the crisis for each country. Using a panel date model, we aim to illustrate the influence of some important macroeconomics indicators (unemployment rate, GDP, FDI) on the labour market (real average net earnings, employment rate). The econometric results revealed that the GDP and FDI have a positive influence upon the two dependent variables, reflecting a normal economic situation.

Determinants of Undeclared Work in the EU Member States

Abstract In the context of European economic recovery, undeclared work has become a true challenge for the labour market policies, mainly because it affects tax revenue, social security and labour standards. Without better understanding of the main determinants of undeclared work, little can be done to prevent it. Having these in mind and based on the Eurobarometer survey, the paper aims to find the main factors that trigger undeclared work. Our findings suggest that after the economic crisis, the trust in national authorities has dropped and generated more undeclared payments, especially for the case of small and medium firms.

Labour Tax Effects on Labour Market Outcomes in the European Union

In the context of a global economy, tax systems play a decisive role in the mobility of production factors. Thus, the importance of labour tax reform in the integrated economic systems, like the European Union, is given by the fact that in recent years the European labour market faced high unemployment rates, despite the high priority given to this issue by the European Commission and national governments. In these circumstances, one widely recommended measure in the E.U. is to improve labour taxation, especially as the European Union is still an area of high tax burden on labour compared to other developed economies.

Causal Disparities of Poverty and Unemployment in the EU

The European Social Model acknowledges the central role that the labour market plays in the transformation of European society into a society based on sustainable growth, a smart and inclusive society. Lately, unemployment which affects a large part of the European working population has become a main topic in all economic and political programs. In the other hand one in five people in the European Union is at risk of poverty or social exclusion and 40 million people are in a condition of severe deprivation and the recent economic crisis has further aggravated this situation. Thus, in this article we have tried to estimate the effects that the European Social Model has on the EU labour market and living standards. Through a panel date model we tried to illustrate the impact of certain variables representative of the European social economy (tax rate on labour, social benefits, the growth rate of real gross domestic product, employment rate) on unemployment and poverty rate.

A Fuzzy Sets Model for Companies Behaviour of Absorption Minimum Wage Shocks: An Analysis of Inflationary Risks

The minimum wage appears to be a new challenge for emerging labor market from Romania. Is this a real problem or only a theoretical shadow of some unclear model of market economy? The authors tried to bring to light the real effects of minimum wage increases during the last decade in Romania and to identify some potential inflationary risks of this phenomenon. For that, they used some econometric test of relationships between minimum wage and average gross nominal wage, rate of employment and consumer prices index dynamics, a national survey of Romanian companies and elaborated a fuzzy sets model for companies’ behaviors for absorbing minimum wage shocks.