Unemployment is still the most pressing economic problem in Europe. It is consensus among most economists that the major fraction of the unemployment problem is not caused by short term business cycle factors, but is caused by structural problems. Thus, unemployment in Europe is a long term...

We analyze the welfare and employment effects of different wage bargaining regimes. Within the large firm search model, we show that collective bargaining affects employment via two channels. Collective bargaining exerts opposing effects on job creation and wage setting. Firms have a stronger...