Employment, inequality and globalization

The nature of globalization and the fallout from the international financial crisis have brought profound changes to societies and economies around the world. This book documents that, over the last two decades, the growth of nonstandard and informal employment has led to greater inequalities. This is partly explained by the fact that adjustment policies in the 1980s, market liberalization policies in the 1990s and, more recently, globalization and anti-poverty policies did not pay sufficient attention to policies for employment and income redistribution. As a response to these trends, this book recommends the development of clearer policies for employment and income redistribution. These policies should now become an integral part of national and international economic policy making. This is even more relevant in the current context of the international financial crisis as:

• Several elements of globalization, especially the unfettered markets, and the growing inequality have given cause to the current crisis and,
• There is growing evidence that the employment, human and social effects of the financial crisis will be felt well after an economic recovery has taken place, especially if no corrective action is taken.

This volume will be of benefit to policymakers, scholars and practitioners alike.

This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities.

Rolph van der Hoeven, PhD, Free University of Amsterdam is Professor of Employment and Development Economics at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague and member of the Committee on Development Cooperation of the Dutch Government. Earlier he was Director of ILO’s Policy Coherence Group, Manager of the Technical Secretariat of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, Chief Economist of UNICEF and policy analyst for the ILO in Ethiopia and Zambia. His work concentrates on issues of employment, inequality and economic reform on which he is widely published.