High and Persistent Unemployment Assessment of the Problem and Its Causes

Unemployment has emerged as one of the most pressing economic concerns in the majority of OECD countries. However, experiences differ across countries as regards the level, volatility and composition of unemployment. Nevertheless, a common feature in many countries is that given levels of wage accel...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Elmeskov, Jørgen
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Paris OECD Publishing 1993
Series:OECD Economics Department Working Papers
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: OECD Books and Papers - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:Unemployment has emerged as one of the most pressing economic concerns in the majority of OECD countries. However, experiences differ across countries as regards the level, volatility and composition of unemployment. Nevertheless, a common feature in many countries is that given levels of wage acceleration, capacity utilisation and vacancy rates are now associated with much higher levels of unemployment than used to be the case two decades ago. Countries seem to differ in the extent to which rising trend unemployment reflects a rise in equilibrium unemployment ("the natural rate") or slow adjustment towards an equilibrium level which is lower than trend unemployment. A number of factors can be pointed to as affecting either equilibrium unemployment or the speed of adjustment in labour markets. Such factors comprise both labour market institutions and policies as well as features that are outside the realm of structural policies. A review of the literature as well as the examination ..
Physical Description:126 p. 21 x 29.7cm