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Labor-use Efficiency in Tunisian Manufacturing Industiries

Author

Listed:
  • Haouas Ilham

    (Centre d’Etudes du Developpement)

  • Yagoubi Mahmoud

    (CRIFES-MATISSE)

  • Heshmati Almas

    (Techno-Economics and Policy Program, College of Engineering, Seoul National University)

Abstract

This paper investigates the process of adjustment in employment. A dynamic model is applied to a panel of six Tunisian manufacturing industries observed over a period of 25 years, from 1971 to 1996. Industries are assumed to adjust their labor inputs toward a desired level. A labor requirement function is specified in terms of observable variables used to model the desired level of labor. The adjustment process is both industry-specific, as well as time-specific, and is expressed in terms of factors affecting the speed of adjustment. The empirical results show that, in the long run, employment demands respond greatest to output, followed by changes in capital stock, and least by wages. Over time, the speed of adjustment in employment and the degree of labor-use efficiency show large variations among the industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Haouas Ilham & Yagoubi Mahmoud & Heshmati Almas, 2003. "Labor-use Efficiency in Tunisian Manufacturing Industiries," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-20, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:rmeecf:v:1:y:2003:i:3:n:1
    DOI: 10.2202/1475-3693.1012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ilham Haouas & Almas Heshmati, 2015. "The Impact of Arab Spring on Hiring and Separation Rates in the Tunisian Labor Market," Working Papers 921, Economic Research Forum, revised Jun 2015.
    2. Almas Heshmati & Ilham Haouas & Kazi Sohag & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2017. "Hiring and Separation Rates Before and after the Arab Spring in the Tunisian Labour Market," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(2), pages 259-278, June.
    3. Jaan Masso & Almas Heshmati, 2004. "The optimality and overuse of labour in Estonian manufacturing enterprises," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 12(4), pages 683-720, December.
    4. Shabbar Jaffry & Yaseen Ghulam & Joe Cox, 2006. "Impact of Regulatory Reforms on Labour Efficiency in the Indian and Pakistani Commercial Banks," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 1085-1102.
    5. Mollick, André Varella, 2009. "Employment Responses of Skilled and Unskilled Workers at Mexican Maquiladoras: The Effects of External Factors," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1285-1296, July.
    6. Jaffry, Shabbar & Ghulam, Yaseen & Cox, Joe, 2008. "Labour use efficiency in the Indian and Pakistani commercial banks," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 259-293, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    dynamics; employment; labor-use efficiency; panel data; Tunisia; speed of adjustment; technical change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

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