Globalisation: recent trends, social impact and role of ILO

1
Globalisation recent trends, social impact and
role of ILO

• Raymond Torres
• Director, International Institute for Labour
  Studies
• ILO
• torresr_at_ilo.org

2
What is new about globalisation?

• Growing number of actors
• BRICs represent 45 of labour supply, most of
  them were marginal participants in the world
  economy in the early 1990s
• Increased global awareness of social problems
  (role of civil society)

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What is new?

• Financial globalisation
• Financial assets represent nearly 5 times annual
  GDP of developed countries (it was at par with
  GDP in the early 1990s)
• Similar trends, but with a lag, in emerging
  economies and developing countries
• Increased technical possibilities to outsource
  production

4
What is the social impact?

• New growth and job creation opportunities
• Since early 1990s, nearly all regions have
  enjoyed robust employment growth
• But significant cross-country differences
• The benefits have been unequally shared
• Income of rich households has grown fast relative
  to middle-class and poor households, in over two
  thirds of countries
• Real wages have grown moderately, much less than
  productivity gains, in nearly all countries.
  Profit shares have increased

5
What is the social impact?

• The labour market is more unstable
• Systemic financial crises were ten times more
  frequent in the 1990s than in the 1980s
• Instability of financial flows
• Firms respond more quickly to shocks (because of
  international competition and outsourcing
  possibilities)
• Rising incidence of non-regular employment

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Labour demand has become more responsive to shocks
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How to respond?

• Aim is to enhance opportunities and ensure that
  they are equitably shared
• Comprehensive policy package the Decent Work
  Agenda
• i) Policies should aim at promoting employment
  opportunities good for the economy and society
  (employment is probably the most effective
  redistribution mechanism)

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How to respond?

• Social protection, consistent with employment,
  should be available shares costs of adjustment,
  supports re-employment and enhance support for
  change
• Fundamental principles and rights at work key
  for a balanced development and an input to
  development (e.g. child labour)
• Social dialogue a method to ensure that reforms
  are properly discussed and implemented, and a way
  to share the gains from reforms

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How to respond?

• Possible obstacles to implementation of the DW
  agenda
• Funding of the measures
• Technical difficulties of certain measures, need
  to tailor them to country circumstances
• Perception that there may be gainers and losers?
  

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Two recent ILO initiatives

• 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and
  Rights at Work and its follow up
• 2008 Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair
  Globalization and its follow up

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Selected references

• ILO-WTO report entitled Trade and Employment -
  Challenges for Policy Research, 2007.
• Forthcoming report of the IILS, World of Work
  2008. See IILS web site on www.ilo.org
• 1998 Declaration available on www.ilo.org
• 2008 Declaration available in the room.