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The German unemployment since the Hartz reforms: Permanent or transitory fall?

Author

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  • Gaëtan Stephan

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Julien Lecumberry

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

The Hartz reforms were designed to make the German labor market more flexible in order to reverse the increasing trend of unemployment. This paper employs unobserved components models in order to distinguish permanent from transitory movements in the German unemployment rate. Our results show that the permanent component of the German unemployment was reduced in the range of 1.1 and 2.6 percentage points after the Hartz reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaëtan Stephan & Julien Lecumberry, 2015. "The German unemployment since the Hartz reforms: Permanent or transitory fall?," Post-Print halshs-01238494, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01238494
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.08.003
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01238494
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Masuch, Klaus & Anderton, Robert & Setzer, Ralph & Benalal, Nicholai, 2018. "Structural policies in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 210, European Central Bank.
    2. Ehrich, Malte & Munasib, Abdul & Roy, Devesh, 2018. "The Hartz reforms and the German labor force," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 284-300.

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    Keywords

    business cycle; unobserved components; Hartz reforms;
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