This paper assesses the Layard et al. (1991) NAIRU framework for explaining unemployment. Their approach is distinct from the natural rate of unemployment framework in that it postulates a short-run NAIRU influenced by 'hysteresis'. It is pointed out that this is not hysteresis in the meaning...

The paper argues that macroeconomic analysis has to be based on path dependency which is treated as a broader concept than hysteresis. The ways in which path dependency necessarily arises in the context of the dual role of investment on demand and capacity formation are next considered. The...