Employmentweb_low

labour Markets and welfare states: a country perspective
accounts for about 50 per cent of the gDp, 90 per cent of
merchandise export earnings, and 85 per cent of employment (oxford
policy management, 2004). Coffee is the largest export, generating
almost two thirds of all export revenue (see Case study 98).
until 1974, Ethiopia was a monarchy. In 1974, a military junta, the
"Derg", deposed the last monarch of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile
selassie, and established a socialist state. Torn by a bloody coup,
uprisings, recurrent drought and refugee problems, the military
regime was toppled in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces, the
Ethiopian people's revolutionary Democratic front (EpDrf). a
transitional government was formed and it stayed in power until
1994. Between 1995 and 2004, EpDrf assumed power through
uncontested elections under the newly created federal Democratic
republic of Ethiopia. In may of 2005, the first openly contested
elections in Ethiopia's history were held. numerous electoral
irregularities resulted in public demonstrations, which led to the
loss of many lives and mass arrests of demonstrators, journalists,
and opposition leaders (WB, 2009). The political climate remains
characterised by a lack of trust among the parties, and the potential
for further unrest remains. at the same time, the dispute between
Ethiopia and Eritrea over the demarcation of their shared border
remains unresolved (abegaz, 2001).
During the Derg period (1974-90) all land, excess housing, and
large and mid-sized private enterprises were nationalised without
compensation. farmers were given rights to use farmland instead of
their customary command ownership rights. The economy, based on
the early soviet model, was highly regulated and controlled
(serneels, 2004). private investment dropped and labour markets
were subjected to considerable control. Job guarantees were
established for all university graduates during the Derg period.
In 1990, after the collapse of the aid flow from the soviet union and
other friendly governments, the older soviet-style systems of the
Ethiopian government became untenable. a reform plan hoped to
establish a more mixed economy. In 1991, a new rebel government
defeated the Derg and set out new economic reforms, though in fact,
they were built largely on the economic reforms of the previous
government. In 1992 the new government (EpDrf) devalued the
country's currency (the birr) and introduced further reforms leading to
donor-funded structural adjustment program, with privatisation and
liberalisation of the private sector and international trade. The EpDrf
introduced subsequent economic reform policies, including enhanced
structural adjustment and "poverty reduction and growth facility".
foreign aid played a critical role in implementing these reform policies.
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