World employment: ILO perspective

The ILO report on World Employment 1996-97 attempts to understand unemployment in the light of globalisation and technological change in the major economic regions of the world. It takes a positive view of globalisation as promoting efficiency and enabling high-productivity, high-wage jobs. The report does not hold labour market rigidities. as responsible for unemployment in either industrialised or developing countries. The macro-economic environment - appropriate fiscal policy, wage setting institutions, and welfare programmes - is seen as central to growth and employment creation. The report downplays the fact that there is little room for fiscal:manoeuvre in most countries so that interest rates may rise or that debt-deflation or the size of the welfare state may be responsible for the economic downturn in industrialised countries. Moreover, balanced growth is not a good option for developing countries as it results in enlarging low-paid, dead-end, informal sector jobs.