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The French labour market and the (not so) great recession

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  • Christine Erhel

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEE - Centre d'études de l'emploi - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé)

  • Philippe Askenazy

    (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

The global performance of the French labour market since the beginning of the great recession is in line with that of previous recent recessions. France's unemployment rate is still far from the historical spike recorded in the mid-1990s. The number of unemployed is comparable to that of the very flexible UK labour market, and is clearly lower when it comes to youth unemployment. Cyclical policies, typical French institutions and recent structural reforms explain this fairly steady trend. The outlook, however, is alarming with a real risk of high unemployment in the long-term. The first two sub-sections attempt to disentangle the impacts of the great recession and the associated cyclical policies on the one hand and the (non-)consequences of Sarkozy's structural reforms on the other. The final section proposes alternative policy packages.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine Erhel & Philippe Askenazy, 2012. "The French labour market and the (not so) great recession," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00849325, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-00849325
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthieu Bunel & Fabrice Gilles & Yannick L’Horty, 2009. "Les effets des allégements de cotisations sociales sur l’emploi et les salaires : une évaluation de la réforme de 2003," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 429(1), pages 77-105.
    2. Anthony Briant & Miren Lafourcade & Benoît Schmutz, 2015. "Can Tax Breaks Beat Geography? Lessons from the French Enterprise Zone Experience," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 88-124, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Amélie Barbier-Gauchard & Francesco de Palma & Giuseppe Diana, 2013. "Why could Northern labor market flexibility save the eurozone?," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2013-08, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great Depression; crisis; labour market; France; labour market policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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