IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/oec/ecoaaa/132-en.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

High and Persistent Unemployment: Assessment of the Problem and Its Causes

Author

Listed:
  • Jørgen Elmeskov

Abstract

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 ... Le chômage est apparu comme l'une des préoccupations les plus pressantes dans la majorité des pays de l'OCDE. Cependant, les expériences diffèrent d'un pays à l'autre, en fonction du niveau, de la volatilité et de la composition du chômage. Néanmoins, il se dégage un point commun à bon nombre de pays : des niveaux donnés d'accélération des salaires, d'utilisation des capacités de production et de taux de vacances d'emploi, sont maintenant associés à des niveaux de chômage supérieurs à ceux généralement enregistrés, il y a deux décennies. Des différences semblent apparaître entre les pays dans la mesure où un chômage tendanciel croissant peut reflèter une augmentation du chômage à l'équilibre ("le taux naturel") ou un ralentissement de l'ajustement vers un niveau d'équilibre plus faible que le chômage tendanciel. On peut mettre en évidence un ensemble de facteurs qui affectent soit le chômage à l'équilibre soit la vitesse d'ajustement sur le marché du travail. Cet ensemble comporte ...

Suggested Citation

  • Jørgen Elmeskov, 1993. "High and Persistent Unemployment: Assessment of the Problem and Its Causes," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 132, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:132-en
    DOI: 10.1787/506882344657
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1787/506882344657
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1787/506882344657?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. Kevin M. Murphy & Finis Welch, 1992. "The Structure of Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 285-326.
    2. John Y. Campbell & Pierre Perron, 1991. "Pitfalls and Opportunities: What Macroeconomists Should Know about Unit Roots," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1991, Volume 6, pages 141-220, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78.
    4. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173.
    5. Steven J. Davis, 1992. "Cross-Country Patterns of Change in Relative Wages," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1992, Volume 7, pages 239-300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. HEYLEN, Freddy, 1991. "Long-term unemployment in the OECD-countries. The relevance of structural labour market and labour market policy characteristics," SESO Working Papers 1991012, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    7. Björklund, Anders & Holmlund, Bertil, 1986. "The Economics of Unemployment Insurance: The Case of Sweden," Working Paper Series 167, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Edward P. Lazear, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726.
    9. George J. Borjas & Richard B. Freeman & Lawrence F. Katz, 1992. "On the Labor Market Effects of Immigration and Trade," NBER Chapters, in: Immigration and the Work Force: Economic Consequences for the United States and Source Areas, pages 213-244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Rowthorn, R E, 1992. "Centralisation, Employment and Wage Dispersion," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(412), pages 506-523, May.
    11. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt, 1994. "Growth and Unemployment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(3), pages 477-494.
    12. Alan Manning, 1992. "Productivity Growth, Wage Setting and the Equilibrium Rate of Unemployment," CEP Discussion Papers dp0063, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1990. "Gross Job Creation and Destruction: Microeconomic Evidence and Macroeconomic Implications," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1990, Volume 5, pages 123-186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Burda, M. & Wyplosz, C., 1990. "Gross Labor Market Flows In Europe: Some Stylized Facts," DELTA Working Papers 90-18, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure).
    15. Barro, Robert J, 1988. "The Persistence of Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 32-37, May.
    16. Weithers, Timothy M. & Sullivan, Edward J., 1991. "Demographic effects on the natural rate of unemployment or baby booms and unemployment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 465-470, December.
    17. Atkinson, Anthony B & Micklewright, John, 1991. "Unemployment Compensation and Labor Market Transitions: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(4), pages 1679-1727, December.
    18. Lawrence F. Katz & Gary W. Loveman & David G. Blanchflower, 1995. "A Comparison of Changes in the Structure of Wages in Four OECD Countries," NBER Chapters, in: Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pages 25-66, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Lilien, David M, 1982. "Sectoral Shifts and Cyclical Unemployment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(4), pages 777-793, August.
    20. Louis N. Christofides & Andrew J. Oswald, 1992. "Real Wage Determination and Rent-Sharing in Collective Bargaining Agreements," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 985-1002.
    21. Chinhui Juhn & Kevin M. Murphy & Robert H. Topel, 1991. "Why Has the Natural Rate of Unemployment Increased over Time?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(2), pages 75-142.
    22. Lindbeck, Assar, 1992. "Macroeconomic theory and the labor market," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(2-3), pages 209-235, April.
    23. Bound, John & Johnson, George, 1992. "Changes in the Structure of Wages in the 1980's: An Evaluation of Alternative Explanations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 371-392, June.
    24. Abraham, Katharine G & Katz, Lawrence F, 1986. "Cyclical Unemployment: Sectoral Shifts or Aggregate Disturbances?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 507-522, June.
    25. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1991. "Unemployment : A symptom of stagnation or a side-effect of growth?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 535-541, April.
    26. Colin Drozdowski & Erica L. Groshen, 1992. "The recent rise in the value of education: market forces at work," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Aug.
    27. Kim B. Clark & Lawrence H. Summers, 1979. "Labor Market Dynamics and Unemployemnt: A Reconsideration," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 10(1), pages 13-72.
    28. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Lawrence F. Katz, 1992. "Regional Evolutions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 23(1), pages 1-76.
    29. John M. Abowd & Richard B. Freeman, 1990. "The Internationalization of the U.S. Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 3321, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Charette, Michael F. & Kaufmann, Barry, 1987. "Short-run variation in the natural rate of unemployment," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 417-427.
    31. F. J. M. Meyer-zu-Schlochtern, 1988. "An International Sectoral Data Base for Thirteen OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 57, OECD Publishing.
    32. Jørgen Elmeskov & Karl Pichelmann, 1993. "Unemployment and Labour Force Participation: Trends and Cycles," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 130, OECD Publishing.
    33. Holmlund, B. & Ohlsson, H., 1990. "Wage Linkages Between Private and Public Sectors," Papers 1990t, Uppsala - Working Paper Series.
    34. Abowd, John M. & Freeman, Richard B. (ed.), 1991. "Immigration, Trade, and the Labor Market," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226000954.
    35. John A. Abowd & Thomas Lemieux, 1993. "The Effects of Product Market Competition on Collective Bargaining Agreements: The Case of Foreign Competition in Canada," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(4), pages 983-1014.
    36. Lars Calmfors, 1993. "Centralisation of Wage Bargaining and Macroeconomic Performance: A Survey," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 131, OECD Publishing.
    37. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Summers, Lawrence H, 1988. "Beyond the Natural Rate Hypothesis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 182-187, May.
    38. Lawrence F. Katz & Gary W. Loveman & David G. Blanchflower, 1993. "A Comparison of Changes in the Structure of Wages," NBER Working Papers 4297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    39. Oliver Jean Blanchard & Peter Diamond, 1990. "The Cyclical Behovior of the Gross Flows of U.S. Workers," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(2), pages 85-156.
    40. Eric Verreydt & Jean Waelbroeck, 1982. "European Community Protection against Manufactured Imports from Developing Countries: A Case Study in the Political Economy of Protection," NBER Chapters, in: Import Competition and Response, pages 369-400, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    41. Michael Bruno & Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1985. "Economics of Worldwide Stagflation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number brun85-1.
    42. John M. Abowd & Richard B. Freeman, 1991. "Immigration, Trade, and the Labor Market," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number abow91-1.
    43. Glyn, Andrew & Rowthorn, Bob, 1988. "West European Unemployment: Corporatism and Structural Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 194-199, May.
    44. Holmlund, Bertil & Zetterberg, Johnny, 1991. "Insider effects in wage determination : Evidence from five countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1009-1034, July.
    45. Bertil Holmlund, 1991. "Unemployment Persistence and Insider-Outsider Forces in Wage Determination," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 92, OECD Publishing.
    46. Ana L. Revenga, 1992. "Exporting Jobs?The Impact of Import Competition on Employment and Wages in U. S. Manufacturing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 255-284.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Olivier Cortès & Sébastien Jean, 1997. "Quel est l'impact du commerce extérieur sur la productivité et l'emploi ?," Working Papers 1997-08, CEPII research center.
    2. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Hujer, Reinhard & MaCurdy, Thomas E. & Schnabel, Reinhold, 1995. "The dynamic structure of wages in Germany 1976 - 1984: A cohort analysis," Discussion Papers 22, University of Konstanz, Center for International Labor Economics (CILE).
    3. Robert Z. Lawrence & Matthew J. Slaughter, 1993. "International Trade and American Wages in the 1980s: Giant Sucking Sound or Small Hiccup?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 24(2 Microec), pages 161-226.
    4. Tschopp, Jeanne, 2015. "The Wage Response to Shocks: The Role of Inter-Occupational Labour Adjustment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 28-37.
    5. Monte, Ferdinando, 2011. "Skill bias, trade, and wage dispersion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 202-218, March.
    6. Richard B. Freeman & Lawrence F. Katz, 1995. "Introduction and Summary," NBER Chapters, in: Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pages 1-22, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. John Schmitt, 1993. "The Changing Structure of Male Earnings in Britain," CEP Discussion Papers dp0122, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. John T. Addison & Douglas A. Fox & Christopher J. Ruhm, 1996. "Trade Sensitivity, Technology, and Labor Displacement," NBER Working Papers 5621, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Axel Dreher & Noel Gaston, 2007. "Has Globalisation Really had no Effect on Unions?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 165-186, May.
    10. Steven J. Davis, 1992. "Cross-Country Patterns of Change in Relative Wages," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1992, Volume 7, pages 239-300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Olivier Cortes & Sébastien Jean, 1994. "Comment mesurer l'impact du commerce international sur l'emploi ? Une note méthodologique," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 279(1), pages 3-11.
    12. John T. Addison & Douglas A. Fox & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Technology, Trade Sensitivity, and Labor Displacement," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(3), pages 682-699, January.
    13. Olivier Blanchard & Lawrence F. Katz, 1997. "What We Know and Do Not Know about the Natural Rate of Unemployment," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 51-72, Winter.
    14. Jorge Saba Arbache, 2001. "Trade Liberalisation and Labor Markets in Developing Countries: Theory and Evidence," Studies in Economics 0112, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    15. Hairault, Jean-Olivier & Zhutova, Anastasia, 2018. "The cyclicality of labor-market flows: A multiple-shock approach," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 150-172.
    16. Dennis J. Snower, 1998. "Causes of changing earnings inequality," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 69-133.
    17. Rebecca M. Blank & Richard B. Freeman, 1994. "Evaluating the Connection between Social Protection and Economic Flexibility," NBER Chapters, in: Social Protection versus Economic Flexibility: Is There a Trade-Off?, pages 21-42, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3029-3084 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Naoko Shinkai, 2000. "Does the Stopler-Samuelson Theorem Explain the Movement in Wages? The Linkage Between Trade and Wages in Latin American Countries," Research Department Publications 4237, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    20. Peter Kuhn, "undated". "Canada and the "OECD Hypothesis": Does Labour Market Inflexibility Explain Canada's High Level of Unemployment?," Canadian International Labour Network Working Papers 10, McMaster University.
    21. V A Muscatelli., 1995. "Flexibility, Structural Change and the Global Economy," Working Papers 9601, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow, revised Jan 1996.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:oec:ecoaaa:132-en. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/edoecfr.html .

    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.