Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK

Green, Anne E.; Sissons, Paul; Broughton, Kevin; Qamar, Amir

doi:10.1080/00343404.2020.1802005

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…However, critics later highlighted that such export‐led regional development seldom occurred (Gunton, 2003) and that local control of production remained low (Hayter, 2003), hence, locking in peripheral single‐industry towns in a development path that is highly vulnerable to structural change. Similar processes have been identified by (for example) Green et al (2021), who found that firms in a manufacturing‐oriented region, like Birmingham, are confined in a low‐wage trap, as their position in the global value chain provides limited scope for upgrading. This, in turn, implies that the path‐dependent character of investments may hinder rather than facilitate regional development.…”

Section: Background and Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 72%

The effects of a large industrial investment on employment in a remote and sparsely populated area using a synthetic control approach

Adjei

Eriksson

Lundberg

2023

Regional Science Policy & Practice

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This article examines the impact of establishing a large industrial manufacturing entity on employment and the labor market in a remote, sparsely populated part of Sweden, focusing on how it affects total regional employment because industrial policies aiming to attract investment and reignite employment in stagnating regions have been a central policy tool. The empirical analysis is based on the synthetic control method, which enables the estimation of place‐specific causal effects. Using aggregated microdata from 1995 to 2019, the results indicate that employment in the treated region, as compared to synthetic regions, has been negatively affected by the manufacturing establishment. However, the short‐ and long‐term effects differ across different labor market segments (same, related, and unrelated industries) and according to firm size. Overall, the findings suggest that large manufacturing investment does not necessarily have a positive or instantaneous impact on total regional employment. It does, however, provide some potential for long‐term diversification because employment in related activities grows in the long run.

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Section: Background and Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 72%

The effects of a large industrial investment on employment in a remote and sparsely populated area using a synthetic control approach

Adjei

Eriksson

Lundberg

2023

Regional Science Policy & Practice

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“…Social policy measures which allow people to participate in the labour force, such as the Scottish Government’s consideration of the importance of childcare, encouraging inclusion while expanding employment opportunities ( Houston et al, 2021 ). Similarly, while labour market polarisation is an important concern across many regions in the ‘advanced’ world ( Henning and Eriksson, 2021 ), policies such as career ladders can help upgrade low-wage, low-productivity jobs, and in doing so addressing the twin concerns of productivity and inclusion ( Green et al, 2020 ). Subnational governments also have a key role in making sure basic services and amenities are available for everyone in a city or region, and equality of opportunity is not just a formal ideal, but is actually given substance through targeted interventions in the circumstances in which people live ( Tonkiss, 2020 ).…”

Section: The Politics Of Inclusive Growth and The Scope For Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking the political economy of place: challenges of productivity and inclusion

Evenhuis

Lee

Martin

et al. 2021

Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society

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The global financial crisis of just over a decade ago exposed longer-term systemic problems in global capitalism of which two of the most prominent are the slowdown in the underlying trend rate of productivity growth, alongside a rise in economic and spatial inequalities in many advanced economies. The Covid-19 pandemic looks set to further amplify these problems. This Editorial begins by discussing the scale of the productivity slowdown and of the widening inequalities that have emerged, particularly with regard to their spatial dimension: that is how the uneven and slow development of productivity and rise in inequalities have played out across and within regions and cities. It then briefly considers underlying factors that lie behind these trends, including financialisation / financial globalization, the diminishing role of organised labour, segmentation of the labour market favouring workers who play a key role in financialisation, together with the increasing polarisation within societies according to skill and, crucially, the impact of changing industrial composition particularly as it relates to the rise of the high-tech sectors. The Editorial then examines in what ways the slowdown of productivity and widening of economic and spatial inequalities, may be interrelated, and questions the notion of any efficiency-equity trade-off. Lastly, it considers whether the ‘inclusive growth’ agenda can potentially reconcile the two ambitions of improving productivity performance and lessening inequalities, reflecting on what inclusive growth could mean, and what it could imply in terms of policy. Thus far, it appears that an inclusive growth agenda has only gained some traction at the subnational level, which seems to reflect – at least in part – attempts by cities and regions to address gaps in policy left by national governments.

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“…Internal flexibility can also operate in the opposite direction, with workers on zero hours contracts in low-skilled jobs in the service sector being nominated to take ‘time off’ (i.e. lose [part of] a shift) in a situation of overstaffing if no volunteers were forthcoming at a time of lower than expected demand (Green et al , 2018). These findings chime with those of Rolfe (2017) in a study of EU migrants, which found that the main benefit of such migrant workers in low-skilled work was their flexibility, particularly in terms of working hours, to cope with fluctuations in demand.…”

Section: Why Employ Migrant Workers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Skilled Employment in a New Immigration Regime: Challenges and Opportunities for Business Transitions

Green

2019

Natl. Inst. econ. rev.

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In an era of free movement UK employers have had ready access to a supply of labour from the European Union to fill low-skilled jobs. This has enabled them to adopt business models, operating within broader supply chains, that take advantage of this source of labour and the flexibility that many migrant workers – especially those who are new arrivals to the UK – are prepared to offer them. Drawing mainly on evidence from employers on the role of migrant workers in selected sectors with a substantial proportion of low-skilled jobs, this article explores the challenges and opportunities they face in transitioning to a new post-Brexit immigration regime.

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Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK

Cited by 10 publications

References 43 publications

The effects of a large industrial investment on employment in a remote and sparsely populated area using a synthetic control approach

The effects of a large industrial investment on employment in a remote and sparsely populated area using a synthetic control approach

Rethinking the political economy of place: challenges of productivity and inclusion

Low-Skilled Employment in a New Immigration Regime: Challenges and Opportunities for Business Transitions

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