EUROZONE ECONOMY MARKED BY CHANGES TO THE LABOUR MARKET
SCHOOL Polimi Graduate School of Management
COUNTRY Italy
T he structure of the eurozone economy is changing due to the evolving nature of work, according to a study from Polimi Graduate School of Management. The research argues that the labour market’s shift from rigid to fluid employment, or what it terms ‘routine’ to ‘non-routine’ jobs, is making wages and inflation less sensitive to changes in the economic cycle at the aggregate level. This trend is highlighted by the labour market’s polarisation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Routine jobs such as craftsmen, factory workers and farmers offer employees far less mobility than those engaged in non- routine positions, who tend to change their employers frequently. More and more jobs are defined as non‑routine due to ongoing advances in technology and automation. The trends are said to offer insights into European economic policy. The transition to non‑routine jobs helps explain why it was harder for the European Central Bank to control inflation before Covid-19 than now. Attempts to reverse Covid-19’s job market polarisation may explain the unexpected inflationary boost of fiscal policies aimed at mitigating the pandemic’s effects. The study, authored by Polimi professor of macroeconomics Daniele Siena and Banque de France’s Riccardo Zago, was published in The Economic Journal . EB
RESEARCH AIMS TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN DEVELOPING NATIONS
greenhouse gas emissions and that’s what we wanted to research.” The duo’s study, in collaboration with Can Tho University in Vietnam and the University of Southern Queensland, suggests that the fall in emissions by substituting motorcycle trips with ‘active travel’ is significant. “Active travel is any kind of transport based on human physical activity, such as walking or cycling,” elaborated Mancuso. “We used micro-data collected during the Covid-19 pandemic to evaluate the potential reduction in emissions from substituting motorised transportation with walking or cycling. We found that 65 per cent of individuals used their motorcycles to travel less than five kilometres. If most of these trips were replaced by active travel, 22 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced.” He concluded: “These are exciting findings that could help to inform transport policies in developing nations and hopefully lead to a better environmental future.” CD
SCHOOL La Trobe Business School La Trobe University COUNTRY Australia
esearch by Yen Dan Tong and Julio Mancuso Tradenta from La Trobe Business
R
School offers new hope for reducing pollution and improving transport policies in developing nations such as Vietnam. As Tong explained: “Air pollution is an ongoing issue in Vietnam. The government has made commitments to reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions by introducing motorcycle bans by 2030 in four of its major cities. “This has been controversial as motorcycles are the country’s primary mode of transport. There was a lack of evidence to show how effective the ban would be in reducing
8 Business Impact • ISSUE 2 • 2024
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