This paper evaluates the 2003 Austrian severance-pay reform, often advocated as a role model for structural reforms in countries plagued by inflexible labor markets and high unemployment. The reform replaced a system with tenure-based severance payments after a layoff (but not after a quit) by...

Work and employment around the globe change continuously, but there are potentially more rapid and fundamental transformations ahead as new technologies can have major impact on what jobs will exist in the future, how people will work and how the global division of labor will evolve. This...

Relocation of production to countries with low labour cost have induced increased labour market flexibility, which has been praised as a silver bullet for economic growth and low unemployment. Within a unionised oligopoly framework, in which a multi-national firm has the option to relocate its...

About one in five workers across OECD countries is employed part-time, and the share has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the economic and financial crisis in 2007. Part-time options play an important economic role by providing more flexible working arrangements for both workers...

The dramatic impact of the 2008 crisis on the Italian economy led to policy responses including structural reforms and labour market liberalisation to reverse the worrisome output and employment trends. A key action by the Italian government, the evocatively named Jobs Act of 2014, has deeply...

This study examines policies that can successfully address long-term unemployment. It focuses on Denmark and Sweden, where, despite sizeable job losses during the crisis, labour market indicators are at present better than in any other EU country. By looking at the interaction between labour...

By reducing the commitment made by employers, fixed-term contracts can help low-skilled youth find a first job. However, the long-term impact of fixed-term contracts on these workers' careers may be negative. Using Spanish social security data, we analyze the impact of a large liberalization in...

In this paper we explore the role that demand uncertainty plays for the offshoring decision, and the role that offshoring plays for domestic volatility of employment. Offshoring is modeled as in Antràs & Helpman (2004), but we assume complete contracts. Firms are heterogeneous as in Melitz...

This paper analyzes the development of the labor market in Azerbaijan from the early 1990s until the early 2010s. The analysis shows that the labor market has a range of positive characteristics such as high labor force participation and employment, low youth and female unemployment,...

Preface -- Employment policy in the global and national context -- Re-thinking employment in in the Indian economy : inclusive growth and well-being / Elizabeth Hill -- Employment policy in the international development agenda and its relevance in India / Catherine Saget -- Judicial production...

Troubled economic narratives in a time of "globalization" -- Through the looking glass: structural change and Latin America's refracted reality -- Shrinking options while enthusing about "choice": labor market deregulation, informality, and emigrant exodus -- The global liberalization that went...

Global goods and the infrastructure of desire -- The spatial politics of Southern California's logistics regime -- Labor and the circuits of capital -- Cyborg labor and the global logistics matrix -- Contesting contingency -- Mapping the American dream -- Land, capital, and race -- Latinx frontiers

A usual interpretation of the high performance of the German economy since 2005 is that the Hartz labour market reforms have boosted German competitiveness, resulting in higher exports, higher production and lower unemployment. This explanation is at odds with the sequence of observed facts. We...

The recent crisis in the Eurozone has led to much discussion about the structure of labour markets in different Eurozone economies. In particular, there has been much talk of the need for structural labour market reform in the Eurozone periphery. But, there are many aspects of labour market...

This paper investigates whether a fiscal stimulus implies a different impact for flexible and rigid labour markets. The analysis is done for 11 advanced OECD economies. Using quarterly data from 1999 to 2013, I estimate a panel threshold structural VAR model in which regime switches are...

This paper presents an extensive, but non-formalized, critique ofthe concept of the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment(NAIRU) and all similar concepts such as the steady-inflation rateof capacity utilization (SIRCU) which are used by mainstream economiststo argue that there is no...

In this paper we examine nominal earnings flexibility in Ireland during the Great Recession. The Irish case is particularly interesting because it has been one of the countries most affected by the crisis. Using tax return data that are free of reporting error and cover the entire population of...

Mehr Flexibilität im Arbeitsmarkt hat kürzere und flüchtigere Beziehungen zwischen Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer zur Folge. Damit erodieren Vertrauen und Loyalität, wodurch Betriebe mehr Manager benötigen, um die Folgen einzudämmen. Die Autoren zeigen am Beispiel der Niederlande, dass...

The factors responsible for the lacklustre performance India's manufacturing are well identified in contemporary literature. The important ones are absence of world class infrastructure, complex system of internal taxation, an unpredictable taxation environment, and regulations relating to land...

Acknowledgments -- The opt-out narrative -- Changes in employment policies and cultural attitudes -- Employed mothers become the norm -- Doctors or dishwashers? : a look at who opts out -- Opting to stay : schedule flexibility and reduced work hours -- Does age matter? -- The motherhood wage gap...