More 'flexible' labour relations significantly reduce labour productivity growth in sectors that tend towards a 'routinised' (other than a 'garage business') innovation regime. We argue that structural reforms that make firing easier will diminish the loyalty and commitment of workers, making...

Mainstream economists argue that unemployment can be reduced by deregulation of labor markets, that is, by easier firing, reduction of minimum wages and social benefits, and so forth. Our panel data analysis shows that wage-cost saving flexibilization of labor markets has a negative impact on...

<title>Abstract</title> Nickell <italic>et al</italic>. (2005) have frequently been cited as empirical evidence that labor market rigidities cause high unemployment. We find that their model is <underline>not</underline> robust. Leaving their database unchanged and changing three details in their estimation procedure, it turns out that several...