...During these times the unemployment rate was below 4%, there was little or no long term unemployment, which was more in line with the EU average. The issues surrounding mass emigration and the decline of the population had reversed and a surge in immigration and a rise in the population; one of the fastest growing populations in the EU. This was a time of boom for Ireland, caused mainly by the buoyancy of the global economy and the expansion of the US economy. This was prevalent with the amount of foreign direct investment that was coming from the US. A major period of economic expansion caused an increase in the construction industry. At the start of 2008, the construction industry accounted for 25% of Irish GDP and 20% of Irish jobs. At this time, the Irish government was in a false budgetary position where it ran significant exchequer surpluses. As a result, the then Fianna Fail government, which was in power at the time began a process of cutting taxes, increasing tax incentives for developers to build homes, increased the size of the public sector including increasing the public sector wage through a benchmarking processes that was deeply flawed and even encouraged people to save through the SSIA scheme which for every Euro saved, the government would contribute 25% to this fund. In addition, the government invested heavily in the capital spending program which led to many projects been delayed and saw excessive over runs in terms of cost. The Irish banking sector at this...
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...is a defining characteristic of the Irish economy. Globalisation is perceived as both an opportunity and a threat (if Ireland is uncompetitive, its domestic industries will decline in the face of cheaper imports of goods and services). Globalisation impacts the labour market through increased completive pressures from abroad and migration. International trade in goods and services has contributed massively to higher standards of living. The mechanism by which this is achieved is specialisation. Domestic industries now compete against foreign firms at home and abroad. Uncompetitive firms will be eliminated by more efficient rivals, which mean higher unemployment in uncompetitive countries. For a small, open economy like Ireland, the solution to unemployment caused by competition from abroad is to capture large economies of scale. This can be achieved by focusing on becoming the world leader and largest producer in a small, specialized segment of an established industry. For instance, supplying specialized inputs for the car manufacturing industry or parts of a computer processor. Another cause of unemployment is immigration. The impact of immigration on the labour market critically depends on the skills of migrants, the skills of existing workers and on the extent to which migrants have skills that are substitutes or complements to those of existing workers. Generally migrants whose skills are substitutes will cause higher unemployment through lower wages while complementary...
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...The Irish Economy The Celtic Tiger years were very exciting and prosperous for those who resided in Ireland. There were lots of investments being made, people were very care free about where they put their money as long as there was some sort of short-term profit available. Employment was up from 1.1 million to 1.9 million jobs available, population increased by 15% from 1996 to 2005 and unemployment was at a mere 4.4%. One of the most astounding statistics was that Ireland’s GDP was the second highest per capita in the European Union, during the times of the Celtic Tiger (Dorgan 2006). All seemed as if Ireland was the first success story of the creation of the Eurozone until the crash. After the creation of the Eurozone, the goal was to help struggling economies to use the power of the Eurozone to create growth and during the Celtic Tiger years it seemed to be working. However, the Eurozone was not doing its job of overseeing the activities of the country of Ireland and let it slip through the cracks. After the crash, unemployment soared which was caused by the huge loss of jobs in the construction market and young workers began leaving Ireland again in hopes of finding jobs. As a result, private debt was high and people lost trust in Irish Banks. Any hope of growth in the Irish economy was lost due to high percentages of debt in all sectors including households, financial and non-financial institutions, and within the government. Along with a complete loss of trust in the actions...
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...U52026 International Labour Markets ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- FIRST REPORT – 2013 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Submission 27/03/2013 Contents Page: Front Cover………………………………………………………….Page 1 Contents Page………………………………………………………Page 2 Questions...…………………………………………………………Page 3 Part One…………………………………………………………….Pages 4-9 Part Two…………………………………………………………….Pages 10-15 Bibliography……………………………………………………….Pages 16-21 Questions Country Case Study You are required to write a 2000 word report which provides a critical assessment of the labour market of a particular country. You will be allocated the country in the seminar in week 1. If you have not attended this seminar, then you need to consult the module leader to obtain the country you will cover. Part 1 of the report (worth 40% of the marks) requires you to provide a statistical profile of your allocated country’s labour market and present an overview of the most important trends and developments in this country’s labour market over the past decade. Part 2 of the report (worth 60% of the marks) requires you to provide a critical review of the particular situation in your country of NEETs – young people not in employment, education or training. Specifically, using appropriate...
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...crises, Ireland’s case is perhaps the most dramatic. As recently as 2007, Ireland was seen by many as top of the European class in its economic achievements. Ireland had combined a long period of high economic growth and low unemployment with budget surpluses. The country appeared to be well placed to cope with any economic slowdown as it had a gross debtGDP ratio in 2007 of 25% and a sovereign wealth fund worth about €5000 a head. Fast forward four years and Ireland is shut out of sovereign debt markets and in an EUIMF adjustment programme. Its debt-GDP ratio has soared over 100% and the sovereign wealth fund is effectively gone. In this short paper, I provide a brief review of how this rapid change came about and discuss potential future developments in relation to Ireland’s sovereign debt situation. 2. The Rise and Fall of the Celtic Tiger It is now well known that Ireland’s famed “Celtic Tiger” ended with the collapse of a housing bubble and a banking crisis. Many have thus been tempted to describe the Irish boom as largely built on an unstable credit splurge. However, this would underestimate the true progress made by the Irish economy during the two decades prior to 2007. The Birth of the Tiger Before the “Celtic Tiger” became a well-known phrase during the 1990s, the Irish...
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...countries-One non-EU Open economies Pro-Business Economic Unemployment Rate 5% (2008) / 10% (2015) Youth Unemployment Rate 10% (2008) / 22% (2015) Average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita=23,721 USD per annum, less than the OECD average=23,938 USD p/a. http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/ireland/ Emigration Population Demographics Socio-Cultural Global music piracy lost revenue estimated at $5.333 billion (http://www.ipi.org/ipi_issues/detail/the-true-cost-of-sound-recording-piracy-to-the-us-economy) Music sales in the U.S. have dropped 53 percent, from $14.6 billion to $7.0 billion in 2013. (http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=piracy-online-scope-of-the-problem) Tribal Case Report Generation Y cynicism and segmentation. Rock and a hard place case report Target market want a B&M store? Technological Mobile Technology Streaming sites Increasing broadband speeds Eircom to launch new 'pure' broadband with speeds of up to 1,000Mbs - http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/eircom- Legal Sean Sherlock signs copyright amendment law http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0229/314091-copyright/ High Court orders six Irish internet providers to block The Pirate Bay http://www.thejournal.ie/high-court-order-block-pirate-bay-948503-Jun2013/ Sony sues UPC over music piracy move http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/sony-sues-upc-over-music-piracy-move-30013004...
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...growth due to the circumstances related to the Irish economy and the effect of the low corporate tax rate in increasing the GDP. So according to this article the GDP of Ireland had increased by 4.8pc and the Irish economy as a whole grew by 6.7pc. Many jobs have been added and the unemployment rate has decreased. The Irish government also had a surplus from taxes for the first 11 months of 2015. However this increase is not a full reflection of what is happening to the Irish economy. As the article explains usually there is a slight difference between a countries GDP and its GNP but in Ireland this difference is quiet large, there was about a 15pc difference the GDP had outweighed the GNP. The article explains this difference in that Ireland has a lot of foreign companies that operate on its soil due to the low corporate tax rate it has and this is the reflection of the GDP being very high. However it goes on to point out that the GNP may not be a better indicator due to various issues. Some of these issues include some UK companies registering as Irish to benefit from the low tax rate. Other more important is tax inversion, when a company gets taken over by an Irish company so that it can benefit from the tax rate and is now registered as an Irish company which is somehow legal. Now the profits of these companies who are to be redistributed to the shareholders appear as the profits of the Irish economy and is represented on the Irish GNP. This all drives the question is to how...
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...Direct Investment (FDI) Policy As a Stimulator to Irish Economy Had Several Drawbacks Summary While Ireland has been extremely successful at attracting inward investment, facts and figures suggest that too much focus has been placed on foreign direct investment (FDI), to the detriment of the domestic economy. Since the influx of foreign companies in the 1960s FDI has continued to make important contributions to the Irish economy, however Ireland’s over reliance on FDI as a stimulator of economic growth has not been without its drawbacks, which will be especially severe in the coming future. The policy led to a yawning gap between Ireland’s GDP and GNP, lead to a low investment share of Irish national income, increased transfer pricing and instigated high dependence on foreign firms and economies. Background Ireland is one of the most successful countries in the European Union (EU) for attracting FDI and the “Celtic Tiger” era of the 1990’s was largely due to these investments and increased inflows to the country. The country was able to attract enormous FDI due to a low corporation tax rate, access to a skilled low wage multilingual labour availability, geographical benefits, fiscal and political stability, ease of doing business and access to European Union (EU) markets. Instability from overreliance on multinationals * High dependency of Irish manufacturing on foreign MNCs is the major source of instability for the economy. * The danger is that external circumstances...
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...Iceland: ------------------------------------------------- Who made the better choice? ------------------------------------------------- Contents 1. Introduction to the financial crisis 2 2. Conditions leading up to the Irish and Icelandic economic crisis 3 2.1 The business cycle 3 2.2 The era of the Irish ‘Celtic Tiger’ 4 2.3 The ‘Financial Vikings’ of Iceland 5 3. Financial crisis response 6 3.1 Government response to the financial crisis 6 3.2 The default decision 10 4. Economic outlook and long-term repercussions 14 5. Conclusion 18 1. Introduction to the financial crisis The Great Recession began in 2007 as the United States housing market fell into a sharp decline. Many economists consider the resulting financial crisis to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. While the crisis can be traced back to a variety of economic origins, the volatility that existed in the world economy from the 1990’s undoubtedly played a large role (Roubini, 2010). The Asian Crisis that arose after the fall of car manufacturer Kia in 1997 and the burst of the Dotcom Bubble in the early 2000’s resulted in many wealthy countries decreasing interest rates to all-time lows to encourage growth in their economies (Roubini, 2010). These low interest rates led consumers, particularly those in the US, to borrow more money than they could afford to repay (Roubini, 2010). During the financial crisis, credit defaults brought the solvency of a number...
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...ancient monuments such as the Beaghmore Stones or enjoy themselves playing golf, going fishing or watching horse racing Ireland offers anything a person is looking for in a vacation. (History & Heritage, 2008) Although its history and landscape it interesting and beautiful, Ireland is also branded for its troubled and violent history which includes diseases, starvation, wars and terrorism. Not many people are acquainted with the fact that after the period of violence and struggle, around 1990, crucial changes in the government were made and strategies to revive the economy were developed in order to establish an economical and financial stable country. The Industrial Development Agency played a major role in improving the “country’s economy, attracting new investors from abroad and was also responsible for launching an international marketing campaign called ‘The Irish Mind’” (Dorgan, 2005). Within a few years the economy started...
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...“Analyse the current government’s argument that the nature of jobs created within an economy dictate the degree of success rather than the amount of jobs”. 1. Introduction The Irish economy has changed greatly in the last Forty years. An educated workforce and Urbanisation of our towns and cities has seen an industry shift. There are a number of important factors that allowed this to happen so quickly. Ireland’s membership of alliances such as the E.U. and the O.E.C.D and the directives that were incurred as a result of these memberships. More recently in the Nineties the economy had enjoyed a period of prosperity which was generally accredited to the provision of subsidies to knowledge based industries such as I.T., Financial Sectors and Research & Development. This coupled with a desirable location and a new highly educated workforce. As stated in the department of finances report in 2011 the economy experienced imbalances due to bad auditing systems in the banking and building sectors. “The Irish economy was transformed over the past two decades. Per capita income rose strongly, converging towards and subsequently overtaking European average levels. However, from the early part of the last decade, imbalances began to emerge which made the economy increasingly vulnerable. A major property bubble began to unwind from 2007, and the fall-out from this was exacerbated by the major deterioration in the external environment...
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...country chosen for this expansion. For the purpose of this assignment I have chosen to do business with Ireland. I researched the country’s economic, political, educational, family and marital systems in order to make the best choices for my company. The government in Ireland is a parliamentary democracy. A parliamentary democracy is a government where the party or parties with the highest representation in parliament form the government making the leader the prime minister or chancellor. They also have 114 local authorities that provide other services such as transportation and education. (Irish eu presidency, Irish politics and government: Irish political system. (n.d.)) Ireland has a fast growing economic system however the public debt to GDP remains high. With a population of 4.6 billion people the unemployment rate is only at 11.6% which in my opinion is low. (Ireland economy: population, gdp, inflation, business, trade, fdi corruption. (n.d.). This country is highly influenced by Catholic morality. In 2002 88.4% of the population identified as Roman Catholic. It is because of these beliefs that you won’t see a lot of women in the work force. (Traditionandvalues. (n.d.)) The social interactions within this country are one of informality. This is something to look at when you look in to doing business with people from this country. First names are often adopted very quickly in both a professional and business. Having things this way leaves little room for the...
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...outcome will have on Ireland. A referendum will be held to decide this outcome but it is noted that the political parties will have a strong influence on the public’s decision. As with all the EU countries, Ireland’s economy retracted sharply with the global financial crisis in 2008. They have recovered better than most of the EU but the major economic issue still facing Ireland is the unemployment rate which currently sits at over 14 per cent. Signing this EU treaty will impose tighter fiscal discipline on members by entrenching tougher tax regulations and limiting government spending (Halpin 2012). The overall aim of the treaty is based on the Keynesian theory of using monetary policy to create budget surplus. EU countries will reduce their budget deficits by the strict spending regulations outlined in the treaty. The downside to signing the treaty is the lack of control Ireland will have over the country. The primary avenue for government spending will be limited to tax increases. Ireland has been criticised for having one of the lowest personal and company tax rates in the EU. The benefit of the low corporate tax rate is the large foreign multinational corporations that create employment in Ireland. Increasing taxes could have a negative effect on the economy. If Ireland do not sign the treaty, although they will still be a member of the EU they will not be entitled to further financial assistance from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund which may be an...
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...Ireland consists of twenty-six counties and is located on the island of Ireland, along with Northern Ireland. Ireland is a parliamentary democracy, made up of three branches of government: the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch. The executive branch consists of the President, who is mostly there for ceremonial purposes, the Prime Minister, who is the head of the government, and the Deputy Prime Minister. The legislative branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate and the Judicial Branch consists of the Chief Justice and seven other judges. This paper goes over a brief look into the Republic of Ireland’s history, economy, their culture, and their business culture. In regards to their business culture, it offers advice into how to appropriately conduct business with Irish men and women. Country Analysis of the Republic of Ireland History Located to the west of Great Britain, sits the island of Ireland. The island is about 32,000 sq. mi. and is comprised of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom (Holwell, 2001, para.2). The Republic of Ireland, which “occupies almost 85% of the total land-mass,” consists of twenty-six counties (Holwell, 2001, para. 2). The whole island, including both the Republic and Northern Ireland, began under the rule of the English as far back as 1171, when the king of England, King Henry II, declared himself king of Ireland (Gall & Hobby, 2009, p. 234). Following...
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...SENZ UMBRELLAS 1. OVERVIEW Current situation: It was 2006. Philip Hess is a Chief Commercial Officer of SENZ Umbrellas, Dutch company. He was concerned about a marketing strategy for a newly designed storm umbrella. Two others founders are Gerwin Hoogendoorn and Gerard Kool. During their meeting they had reached agreement about pricing and product strategies, but they still couldn’t find the golden medium in distribution and promotion issues. There was two approaches : working closely with established umbrella companies or establishing their own brand. Formation of a company: In 2004 Gerwin Hoogendoorn as a student had an idea about improving classic umbrella so it didn’t collapse in stormy weather. He contacted an Impliva Company to work out his project. It was a surprise for him, but the company was not interested. He didn’t give up and he worked on project to turn his prototype into a marketable product. In the end of the year he decided to set up a company through which to market his new umbrella. Thanks to Merijin Wegdam’s advices he thought about running a company with three founders – he would stay concentrated on design, but he will find marketing specialist and general manager to help him run the company. He found them in his close environment – Philip Hess and Gerard Kool, his friends. During students day, Hoogendoorn had worked as a designer, as a very creative person he became Chief Creative Officer. Hess had gained then commercial experience...
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