TYPES OF UNEMPLOYMENT:
(a)
Structural Unemployment:
It is also known as Marxian unemployment or long-term unemployment.
It is due to slower growth of capital stock in the country.
The entire labour force cannot be absorbed in productive employment,
because there are not enough instruments of production to employ them.
(b)
Seasonal Unemployment:
Seasonal unemployment arises because of the seasonal character of a particular
productive activity so that people become unemployed during the slack season.
Occupations relating to agriculture, sugar mills, rice mills, ice
factories and tourism are seasonal.
(c)
Frictional Unemployment:
It arises when the labour force is temporarily out of work because of perfect
mobility on the part of the labour. In
a growing and dynamic economy, in which some industries are declining and others
are rising and in which people are free to work wherever they wish, some volume
of frictional unemployment is bound to exist.
This is so because it takes some time for the unemployed labour to learn
new trades or to shift to new places, where there is a demand for labour.
Thus, frictional unemployment exists when there is unsatisfied demand for
labour, but the unemployed workers are either not fit for the jobs in question
or not in the right place to meet this demand.
(d)
Cyclical Unemployment:
It is also known as Keynesian unemployment.
It is due to deficiency of aggregate effective demand. It occurs when business depression occurs.
During the times of depression, business activity is at low ebb and
unemployment increases. Some people
are thrown out of employment altogether and others are only partially employed.
This type of unemployment is due to the fact that the total effective
demand of the community is not sufficient to absorb the entire productive of
goods that can be produced with the available stock of capital. When the businessmen cannot sell their goods and services,
their profit expectations are not fulfilled.
So the entrepreneurs reduce their output and some factors of production
become unemployed.
(e)
Disguised Unemployment:
Disguised unemployment is the most widespread type of unemployment in
under-developed countries. In
under-developed countries, the stock of capital does not grow fast. The capital stock has not been growing at a rate fast enough
to keep pace with the growth of population, the country’s capacity to offer
productive employment to the new entrants to the labour market has been severely
limited. This manifests itself
generally in two ways:
(i)
the prevalence of large-scale unemployment in the urban areas; and
(ii) in the form of growing numbers engaged in agriculture, resulting in ‘disguised unemployment’.
In
disguised unemployment, there is an existence of a very backward agricultural
economy. People are engaged in
production with an extremely low or zero marginal productivity.
Since the employment opportunities in non-agricultural sector are not
sufficient, therefore, most of the workers are bound to work in agricultural
sector. This gives rise to the
concept of ‘disguised unemployment’, in which people are unwillingly
engaged in occupations, where their marginal productivity is very low.
THEORIES
OF EMPLOYMENT:
The theories of
employment are broadly classified into two:
(a) Classical theory of employment
(b)
Keynesian theory of employment.
The classical theory
assumed the prevalence of full employment.
The ‘Great Depression’ of 1929 to 1934, engulfing the entire world in
widespread unemployment, low output and low national income, for about five
years, upset the classical theorists. This
gives rise to Keynesian theory of employment.
Classical
Theory of Employment:
The term ‘classical
economists’ was firstly used by Karl Marx to describe economic thought of
Ricardo and his predecessors including Adam Smith.
However, by ‘classical economists’, Keynes meant the followers
of David Ricardo including John Stuart Mill, Alfred Marshal and Pigou.
According to Keynes, the term ‘classical economics’ refers to
the traditional or orthodox principles of economics, which had come to be
accepted, by and large, by the well known economists by then.
Being the follower of Marshal, Keynes had himself accepted and taught
these classical principles. But he
repudiated the doctrine of laissez-faire. The
two broad features of classical theory of employment were:
(a)
The assumption of full employment of labour and other
productive resources, and
(b)
The flexibility of prices and wages to bring about the full
employment
(a)
Full employment:
According to
classical economists, the labour and the other resources are always fully
employed. Moreover, the general
over-production and general unemployment are assumed to be impossible. If there is any unemployment in the country, it is assumed to
be temporary or abnormal. According
to classical views of employment, the unemployment cannot be persisted for a
long time, and there is always a tendency of full employment in the country.
According to classical economists, the reasons for unemployment are:
(i)
Intervention by the government or private monopoly,
(ii)
Wrong calculation by entrepreneurs and inaccurate decisions, and
(iii)
Artificial resistance.
The economy is
assumed to be self-adjusting and perfectly competitive economy.
It is the economy in which the relative values of goods and services are
determined by the general relations of demand and supply.
The pricing system serves as the planning mechanism.
(b)
Flexibility of prices and wages:
The second assumption
of full employment theory is the flexibility of prices and wages.
It is the flexibility of prices and wages which automatically brings
about full employment. If there is
general over-production resulting in depression and unemployment, prices would
fall as a result of which demand would increase, prices would rise and
productive activity will be stimulated and unemployment would tend to disappear.
Similarly, the unemployment could be cured by cutting down wages which
would increase the demand for labour and would stimulate activity.
Thus, if the prices and wages are allowed to move freely, unemployment
would disappear and full employment level would be restored.
Further, the classical economists treated money as mere exchange medium.
They ignored its role in affecting income, output and employment.
Say’s
Law:
Basic
Assumptions of Say’s Law:
(a)
Perfectly competitive market and free exchange economy.
(b)
Free flow of
money incomes.
All the savings must be immediately invested and all the income must be
immediately spent.
(c)
Savings are
equal to investment and equality must bring about
by flexible interest rate.
(d)
No
intervention of government in market operations,
i.e., a laissez faire economy, and there is no government expenditure, taxation
and subsidies.
(e)
Market size is
limited by the volume of production and aggregate demand is equal to
aggregate supply.
(f)
It is a closed
economy.
Pigou’s
Theory:
1.
According to Professor Pigou, the unemployment which exists at any time
is because of the fact that changes in demand conditions are continually taking
place and that frictional resistances prevent the appropriate wage adjustment
from being made instantaneously.
Suppose the consumer saves 10% of his income. The result will be firm’s receipts fall by the same proportion. Profit will fall and the firm will tend to react by reducing the output and hence reducing the employment and income. Therefore, to avoid this problem the savings are channelled to firms through banking.
Criticism
of Classical Theory:
Keynesian
Theory of Employment:
Keynes has strongly
criticised the classical theory in his book ‘General Theory of Employment,
Interest and Money’. His theory
of employment is widely accepted by modern economists.
Keynesian economics is also known as ‘new economics’ and ‘economic
revolution’. Keynes has
invented new tools and techniques of economic analysis such as consumption
function, multiplier, marginal efficiency of capital, liquidity preference,
effective demand, etc. In the short
run, it is assumed by Keynes that capital equipment, population, technical
knowledge, and labour efficiency remain constant.
That is why, according to Keynesian theory, volume of employment depends
on the level of national income and output.
Increase in national income would mean increase in employment.
The larger the national income the larger the employment level and vice
versa. That is why, the theory of
Keynes is known as ‘theory of employment’ and ‘theory of
income’.
Theory
of Effective Demand:
According to Keynes,
the level of employment in the short run depends on aggregate effective demand
for goods in the country. Greater
the aggregate effective demand, the greater will be the volume of employment and
vice versa. According to Keynes,
the unemployment is the result of deficiency of effective demand.
Effective demand represents the total money spent on consumption and
investment. The equation is:
Effective
demand = National Income
(Y) =
National Output (O)
The deficiency of
effective demand is due to the gap between income and consumption.
The gap can be filled up by increasing investment and hence effective
demand, in order to maintain employment at a high level.
According to Keynes,
the level of employment in effective demand depends on two factors:
(a)
Aggregate supply function, and
(b)
Aggregate demand function.
(a)
Aggregate supply function:
1.
According to Dillard, the minimum price or proceeds which will induce
employment on a given scale, is called the ‘aggregate supply price’ of
that amount of employment.
2.
If the output does not fetch sufficient price so as to cover the cost,
the entrepreneurs will employ less number of workers.
3.
Therefore, different numbers of workers will be employed at different
supply prices.
4.
Thus, the aggregate supply price is a schedule of the minimum amount of
proceeds required to induce varying quantities of employment.
5.
We can have a corresponding aggregate supply price curve or aggregate
supply function, which slopes upward to right.
(b)
Aggregate demand function:
1.
The essence of aggregate demand function is that the greater the number
of workers employed, the larger the output. That is, the aggregate demand price increases as the amount
of employment increases, and vice versa.
2.
The aggregate demand is different from the demand for a product.
The aggregate demand price represents the expected receipts when a given
volume of employment is offered to workers.
3.
The aggregate demand curve or aggregate demand function represents a
schedule of the proceeds of the output produced by different methods of
employment.
Determination
of Equilibrium Level of Employment:
1. In the above diagram, AS curve shows the different total amounts which all the entrepreneurs, taken together, must receive to induce them to employ a certain number of men. If the entrepreneurs are convinced to receive OC amount of money, they will employ ON1 number of labour.
2.
The AD curve shows the different total amounts which all the
entrepreneurs, taken together, expect to receive at different levels of
employment. If they employed ON1
level of employment, they expect to receive ON amount of proceeds from the total
output.
3.
At ON1 level of employment, the economy is not in equilibrium.
Because the total expected amount is greater than the total amount paid:
OH > OC
4.
The equilibrium level of employment is ON2, as at this point
the AD curve intersects the AS curve or the AD is just equal to AS.
The amount of proceeds, i.e., OM which entrepreneurs expect to receive
from providing ON2 number of jobs is just equal to the amount i.e. OM
which they must receive if the employment of that number of workers is to be
worthwhile for the entrepreneurs.
5.
If the situation is such that the total amount of money expected to be
received from the sale of output exceeds the amount that is considered necessary
to receive, there will be competition among the entrepreneurs to offer more
employment and thus, the employment will increase.
On the left of N2, AD is greater than AS, i.e., the amount
expected to be received is greater than the amount considered necessary, there
will be competition amount entrepreneurs to employ more labour.
6.
Beyond the N2, the AD curve lies below AS curve, which means
that the amount expected by the entrepreneurs is less that the amount they
considered necessary to receive. Therefore,
the number of persons employed will be reduced in the economy.
7.
The slope of AS curve, at first rises slowly and then after a point it
rises sharply. It means that at beginning as more and more men are employed,
the cost of output rises slowly. But
as the amount received by the entrepreneurs increases they employ more and more
men. As soon as the entrepreneurs
start getting OT amount, they will be prepared to employ all of the workers.
8.
The AD curve, in the beginning, rises sharply, but it flattens towards
the end. This shows that in the
beginning as more men are employed, the entrepreneurs expect to get sharply
increasing amounts of money from the sale of the output.
But after employment has sufficiently increased, the expected receipts do
not rise sharply.
9.
Effective demand is that aggregate demand price which becomes
‘effective’ because it is equal to aggregate supply price and thus
represents a position of short-run equilibrium.
10.
Effective demand also represents the value of national output because the
value of national output is equal to the total amount of money received by the
entrepreneurs from the sale of goods and services.
The money received by the entrepreneurs from the sale of goods is equal
to the money spent by the people on these goods.
Hence the equation is:
Effective
demand = National income
=
Value of national output
=
National expenditure
=
Expenditure on consumption goods + Expenditure on investment goods
11.
It is not necessary that the equilibrium level of employment is always at
full employment level. Equality
between AD and AS does not necessarily indicate the full employment level.
It can be in equilibrium at less that full employment or an
under-employment equilibrium.
12.
Actually there is always some unemployment in the economy, even in
economically advanced countries.
13.
According to Keynes, full employment is the level of employment beyond
which further increases in effective demand do not increase output and
employment.
14.
At the point of intersection of AS and AD, the entrepreneurs are
maximising their profits. The
profit will be reduced if volume of employment is more or less that this point.
Even if the point does not represent full employment.
15.
AD and AS will be equal at full employment only if the investment demand
is sufficient to cover the gap between the AS price and consumption expenditure.
The typical investment falls short of this gap.
Hence the AD curve and AS curve will intersect at a point less than full
employment, unless there is some external change.
16.
In the above diagram, in this situation of aggregate supply (AS), ON’
number of men were seeking employment, whereas only ON number of men could
secure employment.
17.
In this situation, the economy has not yet reached the full employment
level, and there are still NN’ number of workers unemployed in the economy.
18.
If the favourable circumstances push the economy and the AD increases so
much that the entrepreneurs now find it worthwhile to employ ON’ men at the
equilibrium point E’, where the economy is in full employment level.
19.
The situation in which the economy is in equilibrium at the level of full
employment is called the ‘optimum situation’.
20.
The root cause of the under-employment equilibrium is the deficiency of
AD. This deficiency is due to the
fact that there is a gap between income and consumption.
As income increases consumption increases but not proportionately.
If the investment is increased sufficiently to cover this gap, there can
be full employment. Hence the gap
between income and consumption and insufficiency of investment to this gap are
responsible for under-employment equilibrium.
Comparison
between Classical and Keynes’ Theories:
(a)
Equilibrium
at full employment:
(i)
According to classical theory, the economy can only be in a state of
equilibrium at full employment level. Any
deviation from full employment would be of short period.
(ii)
Keynes’ theory is of the viewpoint that an economy can be in
equilibrium even at less than full employment level.
There is a small possibility of full employment in a country.
(b)
Macro
vs. Micro:
(i)
The classical economic theory dealt with individual aspects of the
economy, and relates to microeconomics.
(ii)
Keynes’ theory relates to macroeconomics which studies the economy as a
whole.
(c)
Aggregates
vs. Innumerable decisions:
(i)
The classical economic theory studies the economic system in terms of
innumerable decision making units, for example, producers’ equilibrium and
consumers’ equilibrium.
(ii)
Whereas, the Keynes’ theory deals with aggregates, for example,
aggregate supply and aggregate demand.
(d)
Wages
and employment:
(i)
Classical economists believed that a state of full employment could be
brought about through cuts in money wages.
(ii)
According Keynes, lowering wages will reduce the aggregate income and so
effective demand which in turn reduce the level of employment in an economy.
(e)
Interest:
(i)
According to classical theorists, interest is the reward for
‘waiting’ or for time preference.
(ii)
According to Keynes, interest is a reward for parting with liquidity.
(f)
Rate
of interest:
(i)
According to classical theory, the rate of interest is determined by the
interaction of savings and investment.
(ii)
According to Keynesian theory, the rate of interest is determined at
different levels of income.
(g)
Statics
vs. Dynamics:
(i)
The classical theory is based on the conception of static economy.
(ii)
The Keynesian theory is based on the conception of dynamic economy.
(h)
Full
employment theory vs. General theory:
(i)
The classical theory relates only to full employment.
(ii)
The Keynesian approach is a general theory which has a very wide
application at all situations, i.e., unemployment, partial employment and near
full-employment.
(i)
Theory
of money and prices:
(i)
The classical economists had segregated the theory of money from the
theory of value and output, and dealt with them as if they are unrelated to one
another which is actually not the case.
(ii)
Keynes’ theory is more realistic.
He has integrated the theory of money and prices with the theory of
income and employment in the country.
(j)
Budgeting:
(i)
Classical economists believed in orthodox finance and balanced budgets.
(ii)
According to Keynes’ a country’s budget should reflect the financial
situation, and should vary in accordance with the requirements.
Keynes has not emphasised on balanced budget, because there are several
developing countries with deficit budgets dictated by their economic conditions
and requirements.
(k)
Supply
of money:
(i)
According to classical economists, increase in money supply would bring
about inflation and should be controlled in order to avoid the employment less
than full employment.
(ii)
Whereas, the Keynes’ theory states that an appropriate increase in
money supply would increase employment and output and does not necessarily bring
inflation.
(l)
General price level vs. Individual commodity prices.
(m)
Level of employment in a community vs. Employment of a particular class
of labour.
Significance
of Keynesian Theory:
1.
Keynes has given a new approach, i.e., Macro-approach
to the field of economics. His
theory has several names: theory of income and employment, demand-side theory,
consumption theory, and macro-economic theory.
In fact, he has brought about a revolution in economic analysis, often
known as ‘Keynesian Revolution’.
2.
Keynes’
theory has completely demolished the idea of full-employment and
forwards the idea of under-employment equilibrium.
He states that employment level in the economy can only be increased by
increasing investment.
3.
The new
economic tools and techniques developed by Keynes have enabled the
today’s economists to draw correct conclusions on the economic situation of a
country. Such tools are consumption
function, multiplier, investment function, liquidity preference, etc.
4.
Keynes has integrated
the theory of money with the theory of value and output.
5.
Keynes has
first time introduced a dynamic economic theory, in order to
depict more realistic situation of the economy.
6.
He also
states the reasons of excess or deficiency of aggregate demand through inflationary
and deflationary gap analysis.
7.
Keynes’
theory is a general theory and therefore, can be applied to all types of
economic systems.
8.
Keynes influenced
on practical policies and criticised the policy of surplus budget.
He advocated deficit financing, if that sited the economic situation in
the country.
9.
Keynes has emphasised
on suitable fiscal policy as an instrument for checking inflation and
for increasing aggregate demand in a country.
He advocated extensive public work programmes as an integral part of
government programmes in all countries for expanding employment.
10.
He advised
several monetary controls for the central bank, which in turn will act
as the instrument of controlling cyclical fluctuations.
11.
Keynesian
theory has played a vital role in the economic development of
less-developed countries.
12.
He rejected
the theory of wage-cut as a means of promoting full-employment.
13.
Keynes’
theory has given rise to the importance of social accounting or national
income accounting.
Criticism
on Keynes’ Theory:
Relevance
of Keynes’ Theory to Less-Developed Countries (LDCs) (Extended Criticism):
(a) The multiplier, and
(b)
Short-term analysis.