Measuring job security over time: in search of a historical indicator for EPL

All studies that have explored the impact that job-security legislation has had on labor-market performance have been handicapped by the lack of a good quantitative indicator covering a long enough historical period to reflect the drastic changes that have occurred in this area since World War II. This study has developed such an indicator in hopes of making a key tool available for labor-market research. The paper describes the reason that job security is important for labor market performance, and outlines the steps taken to develop this time-series indicator, which should help to deliver on how job-security laws have affected labor market performance in the developed countries since WWII.