The present economic crisis comes against the background of decades of policy changesthat have generally weakened the capacity of social safety nets to offer citizens withadequate resources for financial survival when labour markets fail to do so. Building on datafor 24 European Union countries,...

As China exhibited unprecedented rapid economic growth ever since its reform andopenness, the development and sources of labor productivity has gradually come to theforefront. This paper studies the development and the source of labor productivity in 31Chinese provinces during the period of...

In this paper, we investigate how changes in the skill mix of local labor supply are absorbedby the economy. We distinguish between three adjustment mechanisms: through factorprices, through an expansion in the size of those production units that use the moreabundant skill group more...

chorus of the tragedy which plays on the world stage. The main thesis of our work is that,despite the triumphant rhetoric praising the merits of perfect competition, the global fields ofthe dysfunctional market system have mushroomed in what we call Warrant Economics forthe Free-Market...

The mild response of the German labor market to the worst global recession in post-warhistory appears as an economic miracle. In response to the crisis, Germany has shown to bea strong case of internal flexibility. We argue that important factors that have contributed tothis development include...

This paper analyses the impact of a change in Australia’s immigration policy, introduced inthe mid-1990s, on migrants’ probability of becoming entrepreneurs. The policy changeconsists of stricter entry requirements and restrictions to welfare entitlements. The resultsindicate that those who...

In this paper, we use unique data from a field experiment in the Swedish labor market toinvestigate how past and contemporary unemployment affect a young worker’s probability ofbeing invited to a job interview. In contrast to studies using registry/survey data, we havecomplete control over the...

In the years 2003-2008 the Russian economy experienced a period of strong and sustainedgrowth, which was accompanied by large worker turnover and rising informality. Weinvestigate whether the burden of informality falls disproportionately on job separators(displaced workers and quitters) in the...

We study the impact of tax and minimum wage reforms on the incidence of informality. Togauge the incidence of informality, we use measures of the extent of tax evasion, the extentof minimum wage non-compliance, and the size of the informal workforce. Our approachallows us to examine (i) the...

A substantial number of young unemployed participate in active labor market programs(ALMP) in Germany each year. While the aims of these programs are clear – a fast reintegrationinto employment or enrollment in further education – a comprehensive analysis oftheir effectiveness has yet to be...