Job Creation

This book examines a wide range of evidence about the long-term growth of employment from the countries around the world, including industrialised, developing and formerly Communist economies. The empirical investigation distinguishes between normal and abnormal employment growth (and decline), including the decline of employment due to war, transition shock, and system breakdown, the growth of underemployment, jobless growth and job-destroying economic growth, and identifies various political, demographic and economic processes that explain long-term growth and decline of employment. Major related theories are discussed, including theories of unemployment, economic growth, technological progress, and structural change. The concept of an 'employment possibility frontier' is proposed. The relationships between employment growth, underemployment, and unemployment are examined. The book concludes with comments on the politics of job creation and on various macroeconomic and globalisation-related policies.