”Svensk arbetsmarknad tycks trotsa tyngdlagen.” Så uttalade sig finansminister Anders Borg i början av juli 2010. Han pekade på att det dramatiska fallet i BNP i finanskrisens spår inte hade åtföljts av någon dramatisk minskning av sysselsättningen. I denna uppsats ges en...

This paper views movements in unemployment as the result of the interaction between: (a) lags in labour market decisions; and (b) labour market shocks with temporary and permanent components. Two features of unemployment dynamics are examined: (i) `unemployment persistence', arising when...

This paper evaluates two theories of unemployment: the natural rate theory (whereby unemployment is depicted as fluctuating around a reasonably stable natural rate) and the chain reaction theory (which views movements in unemployment as the outcome of the interplay between labour market shocks...

Many social policy reforms have been carried out in Europe in the last fifteen years. Most of these reforms are marginal. Often they are mutually inconsistent. Yet, something is changing in the European social policy landscape and not in the direction implied by the presence of a 'race to the...