Business and Economics Journal

Precarious work-work that is insecure and uncertain, often low-paying, and in which the risks of work are shifted from employers and the government to individual workers has emerged as a central challenge for workers, organizations, and government in the 21^st century. This essay, which is based on my recent book, Precarious Lives (2018), summarizes the recent rise and consequences of precarious work in six rich democracies: Denmark, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. We discuss how differences in these countries’ labor market institutions and policies (such as unions and collective bargaining, active labor market policies and employment protections) and social welfare policies (such unemployment insurance and the generosity of other welfare benefits) shaped peoples’ experiences of job and economic insecurity, transitions to adulthood, and subjective well-being. We also outline the elements of a new political and social contract that is needed to address the negative consequences of precarious work for individuals and their families. Such a new social contract must maintain flexibility for employers yet still provide individuals with ways to cope with the negative consequences produced by such flexibility.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of external funding flow on Jordan’s GDP (1997 – 2017) focusing on variables such as; Grants (GR), Soft Loans (LN), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and the Jordanian Migrant Worker's Remittances (JMWR) on Jordan's GDP which represent the dependent variable through using the E-Views statistical program and multiple regressions analysis. Previous studies showed significant and non-significant impact of the flow of external funding on the economy. In this study the researchers analyzed the impact of external funding flow on Jordan's GDP for the period (1997-2017) and found that grants (GR) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) have a statistically significant impact on Jordan's GDP; in contrast, Soft Loans (LN) and the Jordanian Migrant’s Worker’s Remittances (JMWR) have no statistically significant impact on Jordan's GDP for the same period. This study filled the gap and expanded the analysis to test whether there is an impact of grants independently of the soft loans on Jordan’s GDP and vice versa, in addition, the study investigated the impact of other variables such as; Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and the Jordanian Migrant Worker's Remittances (JMWR).

The first part of this mini review provides a short summary of the article “Reliance on Major Customers and Product Market Competition”, published in Finance Research Letters in January 2021 (Volume 38). The results of the article shed light into the determinants of customer base structure by showing that suppliers increase their sales to major customers when customer industry becomes less competitive. The second part of the review discusses the consequences of the article’s findings by linking the main results to the increase in product market consolidation.