From state to market: the Nicaraguan labour market for health personnel.

Few countries in Latin America have experienced in such a short period the shift from a socialist government and centrally planned economy to a liberal market economy as Nicaragua. The impact of such a change in the health field has been supported by the quest for reform of the health system and the involvement of external financial agencies aimed at leading the process. However, this change has not been reflected in the planning of human resources for health. Trends in education reflect the policies of past decades. The Ministry of Health is the main employer of health personnel in the country, but in recent years its capacity to recruit new personnel has diminished. Currently, various categories of health personnel are looking for new opportunities in a changing labour environment where new actors are appearing and claiming an influential role. It may take more than political willingness from the government to redefine the new priorities in the field of human resources for health and subsequently turn it into positive action.

Labor force growth and the environment in Costa Rica.

PIP: The introduction to this report of a study that examines the potential environmental impacts of labor force growth (LFG) in Costa Rica under LFG scenarios notes that LFG is an economically critical aspect of population growth that can affect the environment by expanding the economy's production possibilities frontier and/or by increasing consumption. The introduction also explains why Costa Rica is ideal for this study and identifies the study as unique because it constructs a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model using 10 environmental indicators and because it models uncertainty regarding the values of the economic parameters. The report continues by reviewing the literature linking population and environmental issues; detailing the CGE model; discussing the 10 environmental indicators (deforestation, erosion, pesticide use, overfishing, hazardous wastes, inorganic wastes, organic wastes, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and water/sewer usage) used in the model; and explaining the method used to simulate the impacts of LFG. The major conclusions that emerged from the results of this study are that 1) the economy-wide impacts of LFG (and, thus, population growth) on the environment are important and vary significantly according to the amounts of physical and human capital present in the labor force and 2) the impacts of LFG vary substantially among environmental indicators.^ieng

[Demographic dynamics, migrants from bordering countries and economic activity in Buenos Aires]. / Dinamica demografica, migracion limitrofe y actividad economica en Buenos Aires.

PIP: The growth and changes--by age, sex, and place of birth--in the structure of the total population of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area and of the subpopulation over 15 years of age and economically active are analyzed for the decade of the 1980s. Study of the economic participation of migrants and its possible influence on levels of employment or unemployment should be carried out within the framework of changes in the population's structure and economic participation. The 1981 and 1991 censuses and the Permanent Survey of Households were the sources of data. Immigration to Argentina has declined considerably in recent years, but it is still a factor in the population growth of metropolitan Buenos Aires. Between the 1981 and 1991 censuses, the population aged 15 and over grew by 10.9/1000, or a total of 827,806 people. Migrants from bordering countries increased in number (by 85,109, or 10.3%) and in proportion to the total population (from 3.9% to 4.6%). Migrant women increased at the highest rate (30.1/1000). The greatest growth occurred among men aged 40 and over and among women aged 35 and over. The growth of the economically active population over age 15 for different groups of national origin, sex, and age showed much greater heterogeneity. In 1991, women from bordering countries represented 3.8% of all women in metropolitan Buenos Aires but 5.7% of the total economically active female population and nearly 7% of the economically active female population aged 35 and over. Women from neighboring countries were responsible for 10.3% of the growth in the economically active female population aged 30-34 and 40-44 between 1981 and 1991. The absolute and relative increases in migrants from neighboring countries and their greater economic participation tend to increase the general level of economic activity.^ieng

[Women and work. Panorama in Latin America 1960-1990]. / Mujer y trabajo. Panorama en America Latina 1960-1990.

PIP: Significant increases have occurred over the past 40 years in the labor force participation of Latin American women. The changes have been caused primarily by transformations in the economic system, but also in part by changes of attitude regarding the role of women in economic development and household survival. Average female labor force participation rates are difficult to compare over time and between countries because of differing cultural patterns concerning work, use of differing concepts of productive work and labor force, and different time periods of coverage. Some common trends can be observed in labor force participation despite the data limitations. A decline occurred in overall participation rates, at least until 1980, while female participation rates increased continually over the entire period. Several factors have been suggested to explain the overall decline, among them longer school attendance by young people. The Latin American Economic Commission classified Latin American countries into four groups according to their level of economic and social modernization. The role of women in the labor market and in domestic work is associated with the level of modernization. In all four groups, female activity rates have systematically increased in all countries. The distribution of women in the different productive sectors varied in the four groups. The two most developed groups concentrate a large part of the urban population, and in these groups the increase in female economic participation has been most pronounced. Establishment of maquiladora industries has been particularly associated with growth of female labor force participation in the past 15 years. The work of maquiladoras is associated with such problems of the informal sector as poor hygiene and exploitation. The informal sector is known to have grown considerably and to have permitted survival of many families during the economic crisis of the 1980s, but sufficient data is not yet available to gauge its true size.^ieng

[Population and employment in Latin America]. / Poblacion y empleo en America Latina.

Both high rates of labor force growth and large dependency ratios are forecast in this paper for the countries of Latin America in the 1990s. The author concludes that "population and employment problems must be given high priority in bilateral negotiations and/or with international organizations when deciding upon structural adjustment strategies." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

[The evolution of employment in Mexico: 1895-1980]. / Evolucion del empleo en Mexico: 1895-1980.

PIP: Employment figures from the Mexican national census are the basis for this analysis of employment changes in Mexico between 1895-1980. The work identifies longterm trends in the volume and composition of employment and distinguishes 3 main periods in the evolution of employment. The first period, from 1895-1930, marked the end of a stage of development lasting until about 1907 in which sufficient internal stability was achieved to support Mexico's entrance into the world market. Export of agricultural products and metals was the principal focus of economic growth. Construction of roads and railroads was a central element of progress. But economic and social problems manifested in regional disparities, concentration of wealth, conflicts between economic sectors, low pay for agricultural workers, and fierce social and political control characterized the period and culminated in the Mexican Revolution. After the first decade of the 20th century the ability of the economy to absorb new workers began to decline, and the falling of crude activity rates was not reversed until the 1940s. During the 1920s, total employment increased less than 6%, reflecting a net increase of 403,000 male workers and a decrease of 110,000 female workers. The second major period of employment from 1930-1970 saw the change from an economy based on export of primary products to one based on manufacturing for the internal market. There were 2 subperiods, a stage of transition from 1930-50, the economy registered marked fluctuations, but by the 1940s the consolidation of state power and important reforms permitting expansion of the internal market were factors in an accelerated growth of employment relative to the preceding intercensal period. Despite considerable increases in agricultural employment, the relative share of the agricultural sector in total employment was beginning a decline. Employment registered the highest growth rates of the century in the 1940s and exceeded population growth. The increased employment was explained by accelerated growth and accumulation in manufacturing along with increases in commerce, services, construction, and agriculture. From 1950-70, industrial development was consolidated, and there was a generalized expansion in employment in manufacturing as well as in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The economy was less able to absorb new labor, primarily because the agricultural sector had reached the limits of expansion in both the commercial and peasant sector by 1965, at just the time that population growth was most rapid. During the 1970s, manufacturing employment grew less rapidly because of modernization, almost exclusive orientation to the internal market which limited expansion, and scarcity of funds for importing capital goods. A new model of growth will be needed if Mexico is to escape its present stagnation, and a significant share of economic activity will need to be oriented to export. Until this process is consolidated, the national economy is unlikely to show signs of sustained recuperation.^ieng

[Socioeconomic characteristics of the labor force in Brazil (1976-1981)]. / Caracteristicas socio-economicas da forca de trabalho no Brasil (1976-1981).

"This paper studies the main changes in the Brazilian labor force from 1976 to 1981. Several aspects concerning... Brazilian labor market dynamics, such as activity levels, employment, income distribution and social security, are examined. The paper takes into account the short-run effects of...economic policy on the Brazilian labor force." (summary in ENG)

Migration and the transformation of employment and household structures.

Data collected in Colombia and Thailand in 1977 are used to "compare the employment and household characteristics of migrants before and after the move in order to assess the degree of change which accompanies migration. Moreover, these comparisons [are] made for migration streams between places at different levels in the urban hierarchy with the intention of determining within which streams the greatest transformations occur."