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The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between employment and economic growth in developed and developing countries over the period of 1970–2019. As documented in the literature in the past, economic growth in most developing countries has been less job-generating than in developed countries, even though high economic growth is observed in most of the developing world, indicating jobless growth. Based on the Cobb–Douglas production function, we developed an employment demand model to find the employment elasticity with respect to economic growth using working hours and population as explanatory variables. The main findings of the present study reveal that the employment elasticities with respect to GDP are positive and significant in developing and developed countries. But in the developing countries, the employment elasticity is relatively very low (0.11 to 0.15) compared to the developed countries (0.43 to 0.48), which led to the conclusion that a possibility of jobless growth exists in these countries. The findings of the study imply that policymakers should focus more on employment-led growth policies instead of growth-led employment policies, especially in developing countries.

Africa's economic growth has largely failed to generate meaningful employment, despite sustained positive growth over the past two decades. A giant cross-continent, multisectoral investment initiative with the potential to accommodate a large number of semi-skilled workers is the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This study investigates the impact of the BRI on employment generation across 51 African member countries from 2000 to 2022. The study employs dynamic Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) methods to estimate country and firm-level panel datasets, providing both macro and micro-based empirical evidence. The results confirm the jobless growth hypothesis in Africa, indicating that while the BRI does not directly impact employment, it significantly complements economic growth by fostering job creation at both the country and firm levels. Specifically, the BRI contributes to a 1-10% reduction in unemployment at the firm level and an 11-17% reduction at the macro level. Extensive robustness checks support these findings, even amid heterogeneity in skill, gender, and income groups. The study offers long-term policy implications for African policymakers, suggesting inclusive policies that prioritize BRI's second-phase investments in sectors that simultaneously drive economic growth and substantial job creation. A major limitation in the literature on the employment-output nexus is its narrow focus on theory testing, without sufficiently exploring viable policy options to foster more inclusive growth and job creation. To address this gap, this study seeks to advance the empirical boundaries of the field by investigating how membership in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) can mitigate Africa's jobless growth in three aspects. First, it proposes BRI membership as an augmenting mechanism to Africa's recent growth trajectory, potentially generating employment. Second, it advances the BRI employment literature by providing micro- and macro-based African context empirical evidence utilizing a large sample. Finally, the study examines the persistence of short-run GMM results on African job creation within a long-run framework.

The results of previous research suggest that the elasticity of employment with respect to output is not constant within each phase of the business cycle and might depend on the maturity of that phase. Nevertheless, empirical evidence is almost non-existent. Using the unemployment gap as the proxy for the maturity of the business cycle phase, this paper seeks to determine heterogeneous elasticity across different business cycle phases. Furthermore, we aim to evaluate specific elasticities for separate demographic groups, considering gender, age, and educational attainment level, to identify the most vulnerable to jobless growth. Our specification is based on the employment version of Okun's law, and estimates are provided for the whole EU-27 panel covering the period from 2000 to 2022. Our results suggest that elasticity is higher when the unemployment gap is positive and increasing and lower when the gap decreases, regardless of the business cycle phase. Thus, it can be argued that the possibility of growth increasing employment is very limited when the economy operates at its potential level (full employment) for all demographic groups.

This paper investigates the relationship between output growth and employment growth in India for the period 1978–2010 at the aggregate and sectoral levels. Using a Kaldorian framework of endogenous productivity growth, we find that Kaldor–Verdoorn effects in the economy have become more predominant over time, especially in the post-reform (1994–2010) period. Our estimated Kaldor–Verdoorn coefficients, measured as the employment elasticity of output growth, for both formal sector and total employment have dropped dramatically over time, suggesting that India has leapfrogged into a high-productivity regime without the broad-based expansion of labour-intensive production that has been characteristic of fast-growing economies in East Asia. We examine some explanations for why these Kaldor–Verdoorn effects have become pronounced over time and are not convinced that wage pressure has been one of the reasons. A shift in the composition of demand towards higher-productivity sectors, however, does appear to be an important part of the explanation. We also find mixed evidence that forces of international competition have generated pressures to adopt more capital-intensive techniques of production.

This paper examines jobless growth in Bangladesh by analyzing the relationship between employment growth and output growth from 2002 to 2017. The findings show a marked decline in aggregate employment elasticity since 2013, suggesting that employment is becoming less responsive to growth, leading to jobless growth. Employment elasticities across categories—such as rural, urban, male, and female—generally declined from 2002–2010 to 2010–2017, although the results are not statistically significant in some instances. Throughout the period, female employment was notably responsive to economic growth, whereas male employment elasticity was consistently lower. A breakdown of aggregate employment elasticity reveals that while agriculture remains the predominant employment source, its dominance is diminishing. In contrast, the manufacturing and construction sectors are gradually rising in employment significance. Yet, the shift in decomposition suggests that changes in sectoral elasticity within agriculture continue to influence the trajectory of aggregate elasticity because of its substantial employment contribution. Our research does not present significant evidence of any swift structural shifts in sectoral employment distributions.

Background: Despite considerable efforts by the South African government, such as the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme, unemployment remains an enigma. Aim: The study seeks to explore the responsiveness of sectoral employment to changes in the sectoral output in South Africa. Setting: We focus on the agriculture and informal sectors, with the understanding that a large portion (93%) of South Africa’s unemployed population does not have tertiary education qualifications. Thus, the current South Africa’s unemployment phenomenon appears to necessitate the development of policies that will create inclusive skill-based jobs. The study’s hypothesis is theoretically underpinned by Okun’s law, according to which output growth is considered as a primary labour demand stimulus in the economy. When the labour demand function is co-integrated, Okun’s law is assumed to hold; otherwise, ‘jobless growth’ applies. Method: The findings from the Engle-Granger two-step testing procedure on the double-log linear labour demand function over the 1993–2018 period show evidence of jobless growth in the formal agricultural sector, while the informal agriculture and informal non-agriculture sectors demonstrated features of Okun’s law. Results: Notably, the authors found a fairly elastic (1.35%) employment intensity in output growth in the non-agriculture informal sector, with an equilibrium adjustment rate of 86% within a year, ceteris paribus . Conclusion: The findings suggest that, while South Africa’s formal agriculture is no longer labour-intensive, due to agricultural mechanisation, economic policy consciousness in the informal sector, including agri-entrepreneurship, is necessary to create inclusive mass employment in South Africa. Contribution: This study delves into the informal sector, which has been frequently overlooked as a potential solution to South Africa’s unemployment crisis.

The paper analyses corporate-led jobless growth propelled by development-induced displacement caused by land acquisition by the State. It shows as its inevitable outcome an expanding informal sector which encroaches upon land-related natural resources allocated to the corporate sector. This reduces the latter’s labour productivity and competitiveness along with negative impact on environment and social cohesion. Using the example of India as a multiparty democracy, the paper points to the emergence of a dangerous developmental politics of mutualism between political parties and corporations over land acquisition, which subverts the very democratic process through which political power is wielded.

This paper examines the employment intensity of economic growth in Southern Europe during the so-called “post-crisis” recovery years. A labor demand estimation model based on multidimensional panel data from 2010 to 2019 was utilized. Findings from our macroeconomic analysis of eight different industries refute the predictions of neoclassical labor theory in the region. The results further indicate the presence of jobless growth in the areas of overall employment, fulltime employment, and overall employees. They also signal that economic growth may have created job opportunities in part-time and youth employment, and among temporary employees, rather than full-time jobs. The paper links these findings to particular characteristics of the regional labor market, discusses their implications for understanding unemployment and formulates recommendations for future policy.

This article takes a critical view on austerity policy and examines its social and economic consequences for the case of Greece. By introducing the concept of “growthless employment” it demonstrates that the implementation of internal devaluation policies had a substantial impact on the Greek society that needs to be addressed. Within a decade, household disposable income was reduced to an unprecedented level while the labour market was extensively deregulated as several indicators can display. The seemingly paradoxical case of employment without growth—hence, growthless employment—can be interpreted as the consequence of the intensity of the mix of austerity policies that was imposed as “one-size-fits-all” without taking the peculiar structure of the Greek economy into account. A descriptive examination of this idiosyncratic state of affairs is offered, providing new insights on how the level of depreciation can be better assessed. It is argued that the overall severity of the crisis is better captured by the level of disposable income whereas a modified measurement of poverty and income depreciation is introduced for the same purpose. Lastly it is maintained that Greece has suffered by an enormous outflow of its productive-aged population in the aftermath of the crisis. All the above concretise the idea of growthless employment in Greece.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to emphasise on demand supply skill gap of human resources in India which would help generate reasons for the same and the necessary steps to be taken to improve the situation and bridge the skill gap helping maximum number of the students becoming employable. It will put an impact on various stakeholders about the steps to be taken in bridging the gap in India. Design/methodology/approach A review of available literature was done in order to understand the reasons behind the increasing skill gap despite a vibrant and abundance of young population. Findings The findings of the paper implicitly point out that a vast skill gap is prevailing in the Indian labour market and there is a dearth of human intellectual capital in India. Also it emphasises on the role of various stakeholders in bridging the skill gap by investing in workforce of today for a better tomorrow. Originality/value Based on literature review, the paper makes specific recommendations to various stakeholders (industry, academia, and government) in bridging the skill gap and would serve as a roadmap for companies guiding them to follow certain strategies to improve skills of future workers by investing in them and growing their own talent pool; and is an attempt to highlight the fact that India’s jobless growth is not going to reap the demographic dividend and certainly the increasing skill gap needs to be bridged ASAP.