Work and Employment in the Global Economy

January 13, 2021

ASSIGNMENT #1 (30% of final mark)
1500-word essay.
The essay should be submitted ONLINE via Turn-it-in
Before 2PM on 7 December 2020.
Here are some general guidance notes on assessment 1:
Issues to think about when reading a paper:
– What is the key argument? How does this compare with other key works/perspectives/alternative explanations? What kind of evidence is used? How well is the argument supported? What are the gaps?
You need to be very clear on your point:
– What is your key message? Are you convinced by the argument?; What might the counter-response be? What are the alternative ways you can think about the key messages?
Things to keep in mind:
– Focus on one main theory, it is better to be clear at the outset what your main point is, and go in-depth, as you have only 1500 words.
– You may want to find literature that cites and discusses the article you are reviewing. One way to do this is via Google Scholar. If you type the title of an article it will come up in your search results. Underneath the description it will say ‘cited by…’ and then the number of places the article has been cited. If you click on this it will bring up a list of all these sources (and you can then search within this list for particular terms).
– You do not need to try and engage with every single point which is made in a particular article. You do need to show that you have a good understanding of the author’s main points.

Work and Employment in the Global Economy
Structuring your assessment
– Introduction:
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o 1-3 paragraphs (for a 1,500 word essay), which could contain: Brief context, What your point you want to make is? What is your argument? How the rest of your essay will proceed
– The main text/body of the essay
o Step back a bit and tell us about the piece/theory you are writing (e.g. what is the main theory) and the main problem you are trying to discuss?
o how does the theory and article go about making us think differently or not about the main question at hand?
o Now elaborate on your point
o What evidence can you bring in to support your point?
o This IS NOT a literature review- it should be a place where you draw on literature and bring forward your argument very early on. Don’t just summarise/DESCRIBE, analyse
– Conclusion:
o What have you just done?
o What is the take-away message?
o What are the implications?
Essentials in include in the assessment
– Your student number
– Course unit number and name
– Your chosen key reading that the note focuses on
– Word count for the essay
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Work and Employment in the Global Economy

REQUIREMENT
Select ONE of the following questions and write an essay of 1,500 words (30% of total marks).
1. Compare and Contrast TWO from the following four approaches to the analysis of labour markets. Consider which is more relevant to an examination of waged work in low income and emerging economies today?
a. Lewis Model
b. Human Capital Theory
c. Labour Process Theory
d. Global Labour Flexibility
2. How have the rise of global value chains (GVC) and global production networks (GPN) affected the profile of work? Is permanent work a thing of the past in a GVC and GPN context (provide appropriate examples)?
3. How would you define and account for the persistence of informal work in low income and emerging economies? What are the main challenges, in your view, to providing social protection for informal workers in a global economy (provide appropriate examples)?
Please also take note of the following important information:
• Assignments should be word processed: 12pt font size, with 1.5 or double line spacing
• You must include a word count on your cover sheet, together with your student number but NOT your name.
• Your word count total excludes the reference list at the end.
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• You should use the Harvard system for references.
• You should avoid footnotes as far as possible. Any footnotes are included in the total word count.
• Penalties for late submission or for essays that are over the word length: There will be a penalty for late submissions of 10 points deducted for each day of delay after the submission deadline. The penalty for exceeding the word count is the following:
• If you exceed the word count by between 10-50%, your final assignment mark will be capped at 50%
• Essays that exceed the word count by more than 50% will be viewed as not having met the requirements of the assessment. These essays will not be marked and a mark of zero will be recorded.
• Please note that all assignments are to be submitted through the ‘Turnitin’ online system found on the Blackboard pages for this course unit.