What Jobs Should a Public Job Guarantee Provide?

Related publications

• Research Project Report 30 November 2011

  Direct Job Creation for Turbulent Times in Greece

  Rania Antonopoulos, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and Taun Toay
  Abstract

  Countries in crisis round the world face the daunting task of dealing with abrupt increases in unemployment and associated deepening poverty. Greece, in the face of her sovereign debt crisis, has been hit the hardest. Remediating employment policies, including workweek reductions and employment subsidies, abound but have failed to answer the call satisfactorily. Direct public-service job creation, instead, enables communities to mitigate risks and vulnerabilities that rise especially in turbulent times by actively transforming their own economic and social environment.

  With underwriting from the Labour Institute of the Greek General Confederation of Workers, the Levy Economics Institute was instrumental in the design and implementation of a social works program of direct job creation throughout Greece. Two-year projects, funded from European Structural Funds, have begun.

  This report traces the economic trends preceding and surrounding the economic crisis in Greece, with particular emphasis on recent labor market trends and emerging gaps in social safety net coverage. While its primary focus is identifying the needs in Greece, broader lessons for direct job creation are highlighted, and could be applied to countries entertaining targeted employment creation as a means to alleviate social strains during crisis periods.

  Download Research Project Report, November 30, 2011 PDF (18.23 MB)
• Research Project Report No.34 02 January 2008

  Joint Project of UNDP and Levy Institute on Public Employment

  Rania Antonopoulos and Kijong Kim
  Abstract

  Documents relating to the South Africa and India case studies are available below.

  SOUTH AFRICA	INDIA
  Policy Brief Full Report Appendix A. SAM–SA Technical Report Appendix B. Statistical Analysis Appendix C. Job Identification Tables Appendix D. SAM Reformulation	Policy Brief Full Report Appendix A. SAM-Nana Kotda Village Appendix B. A Note on the Village Sam Appendix C. A Summary Table on Unpaid Work and Its Implications for Public Works Programmes
  Annotated Bibliography

• Strategic Analysis 15 February 2024

  Greece: Time to Reduce the Dependency on Imports

  Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Nikolaos Rodousakis, Giuliano Toshiro Yajima and Gennaro Zezza
  Abstract

  In this report, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Nikolaos Rodousakis, Giuliano T. Yajima, and Gennaro Zezza investigate the determinants of the recent performance of the Greek economy.

  Despite geopolitical instability from the continuing Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Gaza wars and higher-than-expected inflation rates, the country has managed to register the highest growth rates among eurozone member-states in 2021 and 2022.

  Yet the authors’ projections, based on 2023Q3 official statistics, show that there will be a deceleration of GDP growth in the upcoming two years. This will be driven mainly by sluggish consumption demand due to the falling trend of real wages and persistent higher imported inflation, coupled with the inability of the government to deploy NGEU funds and a significant loss of production due to climate damage from floods and fires. These dynamics will likely continue the brain drain of skilled workers, who opt to move abroad for better employment opportunities. The overreliance of the Greek economy on tourism is also questioned, given the dependency on foreign industrial inputs.

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