Labour Market Trends in Emerging Economies: Decent Work Deficits Persist Despite Growth and Resilience to the Crisis

Abstract

Rapid and sustained economic growth has become the hallmark of successfully developing countries in recent times. Some of these countries have been able to grow at 8 per cent per annum or more over a long period, resulting in a doubling of the economy every decade. Though such high growth rates have become a benchmark for all aspiring developing countries, history shows that only a relatively small sample of countries has been able to sustain such high levels of growth over an extended time-frame. In this respect, the Growth Commission noted in its 2008 report that only 13 countries have managed to achieve a growth rate of 7 per cent or more over a period of at least 25 years (Growth Commission 2008).¹ Nonetheless, growth rates in many developing countries are far greater than witnessed during the Industrial Revolution: for example, Crafts (1985) estimates that the British economy grew on average by only 2.5 per cent per annum between 1831 and 1860.