IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v28y2022i1p47-64.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cui bono – business or labour? Job retention policies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Bernhard Ebbinghaus

    (University of Oxford, UK)

  • Lukas Lehner

    (University of Oxford, UK)

Abstract

Europe has been faced with multiple challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the problem of how to secure jobs and earnings. In our comparative analysis, we explore to what degree European welfare states were capable of responding to this crisis by stabilising employment and workers’ incomes. While short-time work was a policy tool already partly used in the 2008/2009 Great Recession, job retention policies were further expanded or newly introduced across Europe in 2020 in the wake of the pandemic. However, cross-national variations persist in the way in which these schemes were designed and implemented across European welfare states, aiming more or less to hoard labour and thereby avoid mass dismissals throughout the employment crisis. We distinguish between business support and labour support logics in explaining the variation in job retention policies across Europe. Our finding is that Continental, Mediterranean and liberal welfare states did more to foster labour hoarding using short-time work than Nordic or Central and Eastern European countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernhard Ebbinghaus & Lukas Lehner, 2022. "Cui bono – business or labour? Job retention policies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 47-64, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:28:y:2022:i:1:p:47-64
    DOI: 10.1177/10242589221079151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10242589221079151
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/10242589221079151?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:dau:papers:123456789/11975 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Schmid, Günther, 2020. "Beyond European unemployment insurance. Less moral hazard, more moral assurance?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 465-480.
    3. Alexander Hijzen & Sebastien Martin, 2013. "The role of short-time work schemes during the global financial crisis1 and early recovery: a cross-country analysis," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-31, December.
    4. Colin Crouch, 2022. "Reflections on the COVID moment and life beyond neoliberalism," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 31-45, February.
    5. Hans-Jürgen Bieling, 2012. "EU facing the crisis: social and employment policies in times of tight budgets," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 18(3), pages 255-271, August.
    6. Jean-Yves Boulin & Gilbert Cette, 2013. "Labour market adjustments during the crisis: the role of working time arrangements1," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 19(4), pages 475-487, November.
    7. Guglielmo Meardi & Arianna Tassinari, 2022. "Crisis corporatism 2.0? The role of social dialogue in the pandemic crisis in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 83-100, February.
    8. Werner Eichhorst & Paul Marx & Ulf Rinne, 2020. "Manoeuvring Through the Crisis: Labour Market and Social Policies During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(6), pages 375-380, November.
    9. Philippe Pochet, 2022. "From one crisis to another: changes in the governance of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 119-133, February.
    10. Cornel Ban & Dorothee Bohle & Marek Naczyk, 2022. "A perfect storm: COVID-19 and the reorganisation of the German meat industry," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 101-118, February.
    11. Günther Schmid, 2020. "Beyond European unemployment insurance. Less moral hazard, more moral assurance?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 26(4), pages 465-480, November.
    12. Dennis Tamesberger & Simon Theurl, 2021. "Design and Take-Up of Austria's Coronavirus Short-Time Work Model," ICAE Working Papers 127, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Pochet, 2022. "From one crisis to another: changes in the governance of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 119-133, February.
    2. Agar Brugiavini & Raluca Elena Buia & Irene Simonetti, 2024. "The evolution of (post) pandemic labour market outcomes of older workers in Europe," Working Papers 2024: 10, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    3. Guglielmo Meardi & Arianna Tassinari, 2022. "Crisis corporatism 2.0? The role of social dialogue in the pandemic crisis in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 83-100, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Natali, 2022. "COVID-19 and the opportunity to change the neoliberal agenda: evidence from socio-employment policy responses across Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 15-30, February.
    2. Boonjubun, Chaitawat & Singh, Garima & van Gerven, Minna, 2023. "Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. EU-Level Report," SocArXiv qehks_v1, Center for Open Science.
    3. Tomas Berglund & Torsten Müller & Tomas Berglund & Torsten Müller & Tomas Berglund & Torsten Müller, 2022. "Editorial and Introduction," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 157-179, May.
    4. Boonjubun, Chaitawat & Singh, Garima & van Gerven, Minna, 2023. "Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. EU-Level Report," SocArXiv qehks, Center for Open Science.
    5. Reamonn Lydon & Thomas Y. Mathä & Stephen Millard, 2019. "Short-time work in the Great Recession: firm-level evidence from 20 EU countries," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-29, December.
    6. Kopasker, Daniel & Bronka, Patryk & Thomson, Rachel M. & Khodygo, Vladimir & Kromydas, Theocharis & Meier, Petra & Heppenstall, Alison & Bambra, Clare & Lomax, Nik & Craig, Peter & Richiardi, Matteo &, 2024. "Evaluating the influence of taxation and social security policies on psychological distress: A microsimulation study of the UK during the COVID-19 economic crisis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    7. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/2ju03cb3kc9a3986bsibii70hd is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Britta Gehrke & Brigitte Hochmuth, 2021. "Counteracting Unemployment in Crises: Non‐Linear Effects of Short‐Time Work Policy," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 144-183, January.
    9. Cahuc, Pierre & Nevoux, Sandra, 2017. "Inefficient Short-Time Work," IZA Discussion Papers 11010, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Beata Bieszk-Stolorz & Iwona Markowicz, 2022. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Situation of the Unemployed in Poland. A Study Using Survival Analysis Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Lehner, Lukas & Ramskogler, Paul & Riedl, Aleksandra, 2022. "Begging thy coworker – Labor market dualization and the slow-down of wage growth in Europe," INET Oxford Working Papers 2022-04, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    12. Marcin Kolasa & Michał Rubaszek & Małgorzata Walerych, 2019. "Are flexible working hours helpful in stabilizing unemployment?," NBP Working Papers 319, Narodowy Bank Polski.
    13. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/68ufmnnh3j9vmblf03huqt18qe is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Guglielmo Meardi & Arianna Tassinari, 2022. "Crisis corporatism 2.0? The role of social dialogue in the pandemic crisis in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(1), pages 83-100, February.
    15. Maarten Keune & Philippe Pochet, 2023. "The revival of Social Europe: is this time different?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(2), pages 173-183, May.
    16. Torsten Müller & Thorsten Schulten & Jan Drahokoupil, 2022. "Job retention schemes in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic – different shapes and sizes and the role of collective bargaining," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 247-265, May.
    17. Tito Boeri & Pierre Cahuc, 2022. "Labor Market Insurance Policies in the XXI Century," Post-Print hal-03878719, HAL.
    18. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/68ufmnnh3j9vmblf03huqt18qe is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Paula Garda & Volker Ziemann, 2014. "Economic Policies and Microeconomic Stability: A Literature Review and Some Empirics," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1115, OECD Publishing.
    20. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/6596a4s9af8lt872jnqvm5jg73 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Cahuc, Pierre, 2024. "The Micro and Macro Economics of Short-Time Work," CEPR Discussion Papers 19429, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    22. Pierre Cahuc & Francis Kramarz & Sandra Nevoux, 2018. "When Short-Time Work Works," SciencePo Working papers hal-03393127, HAL.
    23. Verónica Escudero, 2018. "Are active labour market policies effective in activating and integrating low-skilled individuals? An international comparison," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, December.
    24. Victoria Osuna & J. García-Pérez, 2015. "On the Effectiveness of Short-time Work Schemes in Dual Labor Markets," De Economist, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 323-351, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:28:y:2022:i:1:p:47-64. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.