J20 - Demand and Supply of Labor: GeneralReturn

The article presents an empirical analysis of the relation between recruitment in the all-volunteer Czech Armed Forces and selected economic indicators, including actual economic performance, situation on the domestic labour market and development of defence expenditures based on data for the period 2005-2019. The relation between military recruitment and economic performance was examined using values of GDP and GDP dynamics (GDP index). General unemployment rate, the economic activity index¹ and the military-to-general average wage ratio were used to analyse the relation of military recruitment and situation on the domestic labour market. The relation between military recruitment and defence expenditures was examined based on general defence burden (share of defence expenditures in GDP), state sector defence burden (share of defence expenditures in state budget expenditures) and year‑on‑year changes in defence expenditures.

This study uses data from the 2012 China Labour-Force Dynamics Survey and 2010-2012 China Family Panel Studies to investigate job satisfaction and job expectations, as well as the association between job satisfaction and job turnover by gender among employees aged 16-65. We find not only that job satisfaction levels are relatively low, with only 46% of workers explicitly satisfied, but also that worker expectations differ significantly from what their jobs actually provide. In particular, many jobs are less interesting than expected, which prevents workers from realizing their perceived potential. This expectation gap is thus a strong determinant of job satisfaction. Men and women have similar levels of job satisfaction, yet based on observables, one would expect women's job satisfaction to be lower than it actually is, thereby lending support to the gender-job-satisfaction paradox encountered in Western studies. In contrast to Western research, we find no link between job satisfaction and job change, an observation we attribute to China's unique Confucian-based work ethic.

The work flexibility is considered as an integral part of the modernization of the labour market and also as an effective solution of the current problems at the labour market. The paper is therefore focussed on this problem in terms of the working time organization, as well as selected forms of employment in developed countries. We pay an attention to theoretical issues and practical application of work flexibility. Appling the methods of spatial comparison and cluster analysis, we identify the key differences and similarities in labour flexibility among selected countries. There are rather significant differences between groups of countries. The results of panel data regression largely indicate that higher flexibility on the labour market could have positive impact on the reduction of unemployment in the future, especially when taking into account the two years lag.

This study attempted to evaluate the differences between bachelor and master requirements in the field of tourism regarding sixteen communication as well as sixteen managerial competencies explored in a wide range of employers in the Czech Republic. The questionnaire survey data were processed using a multivariate approach of the Fisher linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and its partial least squares algorithm (plsLDA) considering two-set cases and the functional relation of both methods depending on a parameter. It was revealed that although the differences between bachelor and master requirements in communication competencies are more pronounced considering the results of the classical approach to discriminant analysis, this is not the case in its partial least squares variant. The differences are to a great extent variable, filling the whole set of individual competencies. However, the most significant competencies demanded from master graduates are: providing a complex view - summary, providing feedback, time management, leadership and planning, considering both boundaries of eigenvalues with corresponding eigenvectors analytical (resp. smooth) path. The practical implication of the results can serve as a target for modern educational systems preparing students for success in the current competitive environment.