Work absence is an important part of the individual decision on actual working hours. This paper focuses on sickness absence in Europe and develops a stylized model where absence is part of the labor-leisure decision made by workers and the production decision made by profit-maximizing firms,...

Even though institutions are created to protect workers, they may interfere with labor market functioning, raise unemployment, and end up being circumvented by informal contracts. This paper uses Brazilian microeconomic data to show that the institutional changes introduced by the 1988...

This paper does two things. First, it articulates what are the main implications of theoretical and empirical research for design of labor market policies and labor market institutions. Second, in this light, the paper analyzes the IMF’s labor market recommendations since the beginning of the...

This 2014 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Russian Federation’s growth slowdown that began in 2011, reflecting structural constraints, continued in 2013 despite accommodative policies. Real GDP growth slowed to 1.3 percent owing to a contraction in investment while consumption...

This report provides a summary of the antimoney laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in place in Cape Verde. It sets out Cape Verde’s levels of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 recommendations. The assessment reveals that...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that the cyclical recovery of the French economy was interrupted in the first half of 2005, as previously strong domestic demand faltered and the external sector continued to exert a drag on growth. In 2004, growth was faster and more...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic activity in Germany is slowly picking up, and there is scope for some further firming of growth in the course of 2006. The recovery, however, remains unbalanced, and strong exports have yet to feed through into higher household spending....

This Selected Issues paper on Portugal reviews the considerations regarding productivity slowdown. The favorable evolution of income growth from the 1970s to the mid-1990s in Portugal was associated with above-average productivity growth but also reflected a more moderate decline in the amount...

The Danish flexicurity model has attracted attention among policymakers in Europe, because it suggests that a flexible labor market can coexist with a generous welfare system to achieve low unemployment. Using a panel of 19 countries over 1960-2002, the paper identifies the elements of the...

Traditionally, the impacts of the rights of financial institutions and workers on corporate performance have been analyzed independently. Yet, theory clearly indicates that the combination of relative powers of different stakeholders affects a firm overall performance. Using U.S. state level and...