Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Level of Fairness and Justice in Labor Market: Evidence from Tunisia Post-Revolution

  • Published:
Journal of the Knowledge Economy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper tries to quantify the extent of inequality of opportunity between Tunisian active populations when a number of labor market outcomes are affected by circumstances beyond individuals “control. Using recent Tunisian Labor Market Panel Survey, we firstly assess origins of differences in the occupation rate then we distinguish between formal and informal jobs finally we apply the parametric approach to explain dissimilarity in household wages. The Circumstances explain more than 22% of wage inequality and “household wealth”’ is the most contributive variable explaining inequality. The Tunisian labor market suffers from inequalities that are passed down from generation to generation. Without appropriate public policy intervention reducing corruption and cronyism, it will be bad repercussion in the political and social stability in Tunisia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For more information see: https://www.tanitjobs.com/blog/158/l-emploi-informel-en-Tunisie.html/

  2. Informal employment refers to employment that does not comply with the country’s labor laws: no contract, no social insurance, inadequate working conditions (ILO 2012)

  3. G (0) is known as the Teil-L or the logarithmic mean. This index gives a little more importance to inequality in the bottom of the distribution than to inequality among the rich.

  4. GE (0) is defined by Theil-L or standard deviation.

  5. All information concerning the TLMPS 2014 comes from the ERF Working paper of Assaad et al. (2016) “Introducing the Tunisia Labor Market Panel Survey 2014,” ERF working paper, n°1040.

  6. This is the last available database for this country (Tunisia)

  7. Internet connection is still a sign of comfort, it is considered a luxury good and not vital or of first necessity in underdeveloped countries.

  8. As expected, being a male in Tunisia increases your chances of having a formal job; this contradicts government efforts to ensure equality between the two sexes and to encourage women to share professional life with men (recruitment of women in several public institutions). On the other hand, we can see the crowding of men in low added value work with low wages in informal job.

References

  • Abras, A., Hoyos, A., Narayan, A., & Tiwari, S. (2013). Inequality of opportunities in the labor market: Evidence from life in transition surveys in Europe and Central Asia. IZA Journal of Labor & Development, 2(7), 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arneson R. (1989) "Equality of welfare", Philos stud, n°56, pp : 77–93.

  • Arrow, K. (1972). Models of job discrimination and some mathematical models of race discrimination in the labor market. In A. H. Pascal (Ed.), Racial Discrimination in Economic life. Lexington (MA): Heath.

    Google Scholar 

  • Assaad R & Boughzala M (2018). The Tunisian labor market in an era of transition, Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: November 2018, Print ISBN-13: 9780198799863.

  • Barro, D., Ferreira, F. H. G., Molinas Vega, J. R., & Chanduvi, J. S. (2009). Measuring inequality of opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Word bank.

  • Barros, R., Ferreira, F., Molinas, V. J., & Saavedra, J. (2008). Measuring inequality of opportunities in Latin American and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The World Bank.

  • Becker, G. (1964). Human capital, New York: Columbia University press (Vol. 1975, 2nd ed.). Chicago: Chicago University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, (1993). Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, the university of Chicago press books.

  • Betts, J., & Roemer, J. (2004). Equalizing opportunity through educational finance reform. San Francisco: Mimeo, Public Policy Institute of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bibi, S., & Nabli, M. K. (2009). Income inequality in the Arab region: Data and measurement, patterns and trends. Middle East Development Journal, 1(2), 275–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binzel, C. (2011). Decline in social mobility: Unfulfilled aspirations among Egypt’s educated youth. IZA discussion paper series no. 6139. Bonn.

  • Bourguignon, F., Ferreira, F., & Menéndez, M. (2007). Equity, efficiency and inequality traps: A research agenda. Journal of Economic Inequality, 5(2), 235–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chantreuil, F. and A. Trannoy (1999) "inequality decomposition values: The trade-off between marginality and consistency", mimeo, Université de Cergy-Pointoise.

  • Checchi D. & Peragine V. (2005), “Regional disparities and inequality of opportunity: The case of Italy”, IZA discussion paper 1874/2005.

  • Nidhal Ben Cheick (à paraître) & Charmes Jacques (2015), Protection sociale et économie informelle en Tunisie. Situation actuelle et principaux défis, Banque Africaine de Développement, CRES, Tunis, p. 68

  • Drehmann, M., & Juselius, M. (2014). Evaluating early warning indicators of banking crises: Satisfying policy requirements. International Journal of Forecasting, 30(3), 759–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira F H & Jérémie Gignoux. (2008) "The measurement of inequality of opportnity : Theory and application to Latin America, Policy Research Working paper 4659, World Bank.

  • Ferreira FH & Jérémie Gignoux (2013). The Measurement of Educational Inequality: Achievement and Opportunity. Forthcoming in The World Bank Economic Review. Advance Access published February 20, 2013. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lht004.

  • Hassine, N. B. (2011). Inequality of opportunity in Egypt. The World Bank Economic Review, 26(2), 265–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Office (ILO). 2012. Statistical update on employment in the informal economy (Geneva).

  • ILO (2018). International labour organistion. https://www.ilo.org/africa/countries-covered/tunisia/lang%2D%2Dfr/index.htm

  • INS (2019). L'Institut national de la statistique. www.ins.nat.tn.

  • Kolm, S.-K. (1996). Modern theories of justice. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacevic, M. (2010). Measurement of inequality in human development-a review. In Human development research paper 2010/35. New York: UNDP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krafft and Assad. (2016). Inequality of Opportunity in the Labor Market for Higher Education Graduates in Egypt and Jordan. In The Middle East Economies in Times of Transition (pp. 159–185).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lachaud, J. P. (1994). Pauvreté et marché du travail urbain en Afrique subsaharienne : analyse comparative (p. 270). Geneva: International Institute for Labour Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lachaud J. P. (1996),« Les femmes et le marché du travail urbain en Afrique Subsaharienne », Série de recherche 1, CED.

  • Lucas, R. E. (1988). On the mechanisms of economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics, 22(1), 3–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, E. (1972). The statistical theory of racism and sexism. The American Economic Review, September..

  • Pignatti N. (2010), “Labor Market Segmentation and Gender Wage Gap in Ukraine”, Escirru Working Paper, n° 17.

  • Ralitza, D. & Karim S. (2016). Inequality of opportunity and (unequal) opportunities in the youth labour market: How is the Arab world different? International Labour Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12144.

  • Ramos, X., & Van de Gaer, D. (2016). Approaches to inequality of opportunity: Principles, measures and evidence. Journal of Economic Surveys, 30, 855–883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roemer, J. (1998). Equality of opportunity. Cambridge: Havard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, T Paul & Rosenzweig, Mark R (1983). “Estimating a Household Production Function: Heterogeneity, the Demand for Health Inputs, and Their Effects on Birth Weight,” Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, 91(5), 723–746.

  • Shapley, L. (1953). A value for n-person games. In H. W. Kuhnm & A. W. Tucker (Eds.), Contributions to the theory of games (Vol. 2). Princeton: Princeton University press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shorrocks, A. F. (1999). Decomposition procedures for distributional analysis: A unified framework based on Shapley value. Mimeo: Department of Economics, University of Essex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shorrocks, A. F. (2002). The two-fold path to human error analysis: Tracer lite retrospection and prediction. Safety Systems (Newsletter of the Safety-Critical Systems Club), 11(3).

  • Word Bank. (2005). Rapport sur le Développement dans le Monde : Equité et Développement. Washington: Banque mondiale.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2006). World development report 2006: Equity and development. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2013). Jobs for shared prosperity: Time for action in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2014). Arab Republic of Egypt: More jobs, better jobs: A priority of Egypt, report no. 88447-EG (Cairo).

  • Yalonetzky, G. (2010). A dissimilarity index of multidimensional inequality of opportunity. Journal of Economic Inequality, 31(1), 1569–1721.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Availability of Data and Materials

Please contact corresponding author for data requests

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FSEG Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia

    Saidi Anis & Hamdaoui Mekki

Authors
  1. Saidi Anis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hamdaoui Mekki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saidi Anis.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

Not applicable.

Consent for Publication

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Anis, S., Mekki, H. Level of Fairness and Justice in Labor Market: Evidence from Tunisia Post-Revolution. J Knowl Econ 12, 1187–1214 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-020-00664-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-020-00664-y

Keywords

JEL Classifications

Search

Navigation