Should unemployment compensation be paid indefinitely at a fixed rate or should it decline (or increase) over a worker's unemployment spell? We examine these issues using an equilibrium model of search unemployment. The model features worker-firm bargaining over wages, free entry of new jobs,...

This paper studies effects of unemployment and labour market programmes on real wages in the Czech and Slovak Republics using district paneldata for the period 1992-1998. Clear wage exists in both countries. The estimated unemployment elasticity of pay is, however, higher in the Slovak Republic,...

Are there any differences in how men and women fare from unemployment in terms of the wages they receive on a new job? This paper addresses that question using the 1991 wave of the Level of Living Survey. The results suggest that men who experience unemployment will suffer a reduction of...

This paper is concerned with the labor market experience of Swedish youths during the 1980s and the 1990s. The first objective is to portray early economic attainment among young Swedes. The second objective of the paper is to examine the impact of labor market programs on youth employment. We...

Hoe does central bank conservatism affect labor market reform? In this paper we examine the economic forces at work. An increase in conservation triggers two opposite effects. It reduces the inflation bias of discretionary monetary policy and hence the benefits of a reform. It also increases...

The common view that far-reaching labour market deregulation is the only remedy for high European unemployment is too simplistic. First, the ecidence suggests that deeply rooted social customs are an important cause of wage rigidity, going beyonf the legal constraints emphasized in the political...

Recent analyses of wage bargaining has emphasized the distinction between insiders and outsiders, yet one typically assumes that insiders and recently hired outsiders are paid the same wage. We consider a model where the starting wage for outsiders may be lower that the insider wage, but...

The Czech labour market performance in early 1990s has widely been regarded as a success story. In particular, the Czech unemployment rate has been one of the lowest in Europe. IN this paper, we provide a microperspective on the Czech labour market by using data from the Czech labour force...

Conventional models of equilibrium unemployment typically imply that proportional taxes on labor earnings are neutral with respect to unemployment as long as the tax does not affect the replacement rate provided by unemployment insurance, i.e., unemployment benefits relative to after-tax...

This study reports the results from a repeat survey among managers in Swedish manufacturing, designed to explore how a severe and prolonged macroeconomic shock affects wage rigidity and unemployment. Our second survey was conducted in 1998, when the unemployment rate was much higher, and the...