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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Dancikova, Zuzana; Muter, Magda |
| Abstract: | The article argues that despite a growing trend of generous leave policies for fathers, leave-related workplace discrimination against them persists, contributing to lower rates of uptake compared to mothers. Using a comparative design, we explore the link between different leave policies for fathers and differences in subtle discrimination of fathers in their workplace when it comes to leave-taking. Drawing on semi-structured individual interviews with fathers and mothers conducted in 2019-20, we compare the cases of Poland and Slovakia, two contexts similar in their inegalitarian gender structures—casting mothers as primary stay-at-home carers of young children and fathers as ideal workers—but different in policies. At the time of our interviews, Poland granted fathers 2 weeks of well-paid, non-transferable paternity leave; Polish fathers could also draw on 32 weeks of well-paid parental leave, which could be divided by parents as they wished. By contrast, Slovak fathers were entitled to 28 weeks of well-paid non-transferable “maternity leave for fathers”. Polish fathers' rate of uptake of paternity leave was the highest, their uptake of parental leave the lowest, with Slovak fathers' uptake of the “maternity leave for fathers” in-between. We find that differences in workplace obstacles linked to the three policies help explain the different rates of uptake. While fathers in Poland rarely reported opposition to taking the short non-transferable paternity leave, Slovak fathers were faced with multiple obstacles to their use of their non-transferable but considerably longer policy, ranging from a lack of established HR processes, through a need to find substitutes for their position to fears of losing their jobs. The obstacles were further exacerbated for Polish parental leave, which parents can divide freely and which is viewed as mothers' entitlement. We conclude that though gendered norms on the division of leaves remain strong in both Poland and Slovakia, casting men as ideal workers and women as primary carers, policy details matter and affect the level of discrimination. Slovak fathers with their non-transferable leave entitlements face comparatively less discrimination than Polish fathers when taking longer leaves. In sum, more egalitarian policy design may help counter subtle workplace discrimination when it comes to fathers' leave-taking. |
| Keywords: | paternity leaves; Poland; gender-equality; Slovakia; fathers; workplace; discrimination; parental leaves; UKRI 2025/2026 fund |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2026–01–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:130349 |
| By: | Andriy Tsapin (National Bank of Ukraine; National University of Ostroh Academy); Oleksandr Zholud (National Bank of Ukraine) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the dynamics of the labor market in Ukraine during the full-scale russian invasion, emphasizing the need to account for profound structural changes in this market. We derive estimates of labor force participation and unemployment rates using survey data collected by Info Sapiens for the National Bank of Ukraine and controlling for sample composition. Participation fell by about nine percentage points between 2022 and 2025, while the unemployment rate peaked at 25 percent in May 2022 and gradually declined to 9 percent by December 2024. We corrected possible biases by including potentially omitted variables in our regressions. Regional and demographic disparities were pronounced during the war: Kyiv maintained lower unemployment, the east of the country was hardest hit, and the urban-rural gap narrowed after 2023. The gender gap in the labor market decreased but remained significant during the war. Education proved decisive for job retention, with university and vocational training significantly improving labor participation and employment outcomes. Our findings provide robust evidence of the adjustment of the labor market under extreme conditions and offer essential policy lessons for sustaining employment during the ongoing war. |
| Keywords: | Ukraine, labor market conditions, unemployment, war |
| JEL: | H56 J21 J64 O12 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ukb:wpaper:04/2025 |
| By: | Isachenko, Daria |
| Abstract: | Ankara's role in Central Asia is often assessed through the "Great Game" lens, in which Turkey is supposed to challenge the influence of Russia and China. On the one hand, such a perspective attests to the growing role of Turkey in the region. On the other hand, this view ignores the agency of Central Asian states and the established multi-vector foreign policies, meaning that cooperation with Ankara is a complement to, rather than a replacement for, their interactions with other actors. As the European Union (EU) seeks to engage in Central Asia, its approach will need to accommodate the diversification pattern prevailing in the region. |
| Keywords: | Central Asia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Cyprus, multi-vector foreign policies, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), European Union (EU), Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Organization of Turkic States (OTS), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)" |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:swpcom:334557 |
| By: | Giacomo Anastasia; Tito Boeri; Oleksandr Zholud |
| Abstract: | Wars disrupt labor markets, yet systematic evidence on how markets for labor services operate during conflicts is almost entirely absent. Ukraine is a rare exception: despite the full-scale Russian invasion, timely data on workers and vacancies, in both stocks and flows, remain available. We use these data to document one of the largest labor supply and reallocation shocks in recent history and to estimate the impact on job matching, showing how labor markets adapt under extreme stress. The labor force shrank by about one fourth, yet vacancy filling rates and matching efficiency declined modestly. Only along the frontline and in occupied regions there is evidence of labor market shutdowns. Wage flexibility, adaptability of recruitment policies of firms, and remote working help explain the resiliency of labor outcomes. Recovering longer-term human capital losses suffered by Ukraine will require a mix of tools going well beyond labor policies and should be a priority for the reconstruction phase. |
| Keywords: | labor supply shock, reallocation, vacancy filling rate, wartime economy, wartime labor market, Russian invasion, Ukraine |
| Date: | 2026–01–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2142 |
| By: | Douglas, Nadja |
| Abstract: | The European security order is dysfunctional and particularly affected by the crisis of multilateralism. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), founded as a forum for promoting cooperative security and standardsbased cooperation, today is an expression of the weakness of traditional multilateral institutions. The reporting system in the politico-military dimension of the OSCE is a seismograph for the change in norms and dynamics among participating States. However, it also shows that despite the changes at the political-strategic level and the politicization of the official agenda, the implementation of agreements at the technical-military level of the OSCE continues quite smoothly. This presents opportunities but also risks that the 57 participating States should be aware of. |
| Keywords: | crisis of multilateralism, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations (UN) Charter, Helsinki Principles, Russia, war against Ukraine, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs), Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security (CoC), Vienna Document (VD) on CSBMs |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:swpcom:334568 |
| By: | Benjamin Jungmann; Eckhard Hein; Juan Manuel Campana |
| Abstract: | Post-Keynesian conflict inflation models have received renewed attention in the course of the recent inflationary processes related to the recovery from the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and the hike of energy prices in the context of the start of the Russian war on Ukraine in 2022. Although the basic principles of conflict inflation can be presented in a closed economy framework (e.g. Hein 2023, chap. 5), examining current sources and triggers of inflation requires open economy models. Post-Keynesian economics has presented several of these models (e.g. Blecker 2011, Vera 2014, Bastian and Setterfield 2020), which differ in the role assigned to the nominal and the real exchange rate (RER), on the one hand, and the stability of the wage and price Phillips curves, on the other hand. This paper first provides a systematic overview of post-Keynesian open economy conflict inflation models using the treatment of the RER and the stability of the Phillips curve as the main clustering criteria. Second, it provides a model including an unstable Phillips curve and a policy rule targeting a certain RER in response towards trade imbalances. The model distinguishes three equilibrium rates of employment: the goods market equilibrium rate of employment, the distribution claims equilibrium and hence stable inflation rate of employment, and finally the external balance equilibrium rate of employment. The interaction of these three rates drives the system. Finally, the model examines the conditions for an overall equilibrium and its stability. |
| Keywords: | conflict inflation, open economy, exchange rate policy, post-Keynesian model |
| JEL: | E12 E31 E61 F41 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:fmmpap:120-2025 |
| By: | Bojidara Doseva; Catherine Dehon; Antonio Estache |
| Abstract: | The paper reports the results of an experiment designed to compare the impact on financial literacy skills of primary school students of a switch from a traditional pedagogical approach supported by textbooks to one relying on AI-supported methods favouring the gamification of the learning process. The study focuses on 152 students aged 8 to 11 distributed across six classes in a Bulgarian public school. The results show an important statistically significant literacy improvement for the treatment group. It also discusses the contextual dimensions accounted for in control variables that may lead to outcome differences according to the families’ socio-economic background. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence; Education and Training; Financial Markets; Household Finance |
| Date: | 2025–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/401374 |
| By: | Eric Sabourin (UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UM - Université de Montpellier - UMPV - Université de Montpellier Paul-Valéry) |
| Abstract: | Several socio-economic and socio-anthropological approaches associate peasant agricultures to production and redistribution systems based on other conceptions of value than this of capitalistic market exchange and on other relations than competition for the accumulation of private profit. This article examines three proposals from diverse backgrounds but sharing a common analysis of peasant farming around the notions of ethics, affection, autonomy and resistance. There are the moral economy of Scott (1976), the economy of affection of Hyden (1980) and the peasant principle of Ploeg (2008). These three authors also refer to the principle of reciprocity; thus, I propose first to analyze their contribution regarding the theory of reciprocity in anthropology (Scubla, 1985; Temple, 1997 and 2003, Sabourin, 2012) and, secondly, I will examine how these approaches could dialogue. The article is divided in three parts. The first proposes a reading of the three contributions; the second presents briefly the main points of the theory of reciprocity and the third one discusses commons lessons and perspectives of these approaches. |
| Keywords: | Economy of reciprocity, Reciprocity, Peasant principle, Economy of the affection, Moral economy, Peasant societies, Principe paysan, économie agricole, Economie rurale, Réciprocité, Economie morale, Economie de l'affection, éthique, sociologie, anthropologie sociale, petit agriculteur, système de valeurs, exploitation agricole familiale, théorie économique, Amérique latine, Asie du Sud-Est, Brésil, Pérou, Viet Nam, marché, communauté rurale |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05457232 |