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The political consequences of unemployment

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  • Gilles Saint Paul

Abstract

We analyze the channels by which an ill-functioning labor market changes the preferences of the people for public policy and therefore the decisions that are made. We not only discuss labour market reform but other important aspects of policy making such as the size and structure of government spending. The class of mechanisms that we highlight can be summarized as the very existence of unemployment generating political support for "sclerosis". This may help to explain the timid pace of reform, in particular the fact that any recovery sends them at the backfront of the political agenda, and the sometimes violent opposition generated by some measures, as we have seen mostly in France.

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  • Gilles Saint Paul, 1998. "The political consequences of unemployment," Economics Working Papers 343, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:343
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Olivier J. Blanchard & Lawrence H. Summers, 1986. "Hysteresis and the European Unemployment Problem," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1986, Volume 1, pages 15-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Blanchard, Olivier J. & Summers, Lawrence H., 1987. "Hysteresis in unemployment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 288-295.
    3. Saint-Paul, Gilles, 1997. "The Rise and Persistence of Rigidities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 290-294, May.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ansgar Belke & Rainer Fehn, "undated". "Institutions and Structural Unemployment: Do Capital-Market Imperfections Matter?," German Working Papers in Law and Economics 2001-default/2001/1-1008, Berkeley Electronic Press.
    2. Barry Eichengreen & Fabio Ghironi, 1999. "Macroeconomic Tradeoffs in the United States and Europe: Fiscal Distortions and the International Monetary Regime," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 467, Boston College Department of Economics.
    3. Brown, Alessio J.G. & Merkl, Christian & Snower, Dennis J., 2011. "Comparing the effectiveness of employment subsidies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 168-179, April.
    4. Ansgar Belke & Rainer Fehn, "undated". "Institutions and Structural Unemployment: Do Capital-Market Imperfections Matter?," German Working Papers in Law and Economics 2001-default/2001/1-1008, Berkeley Electronic Press.
    5. Marimon, Ramon & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2000. "Employment and distributional effects of restricting working time," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 1291-1326, June.
    6. Rainer Fehn & Carsten-Patrick Meier, 2001. "The Positive Economics of Labor Market Rigidities and Investor Protection," CESifo Working Paper Series 456, CESifo.
    7. Fehn, Rainer & Meier, Carsten-Patrick, 2000. "The positive economics of corporatism and corporate governance," Kiel Working Papers 982, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Berthold, Norbert & Fehn, Rainer, 2001. "Labor market policy in the new economy," Discussion Paper Series 48, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    9. Berthold Norbert, 2000. "Mehr Beschäftigung, weniger Arbeitslosigkeit: Setzt sich das ökonomische Gesetz gegen (verbands-)politische Macht durch?," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 51(1), pages 231-260, January.
    10. Eric Levin & Robert Wright, 2001. "Unemployment insurance, moral hazard, and economic growth," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 7(4), pages 373-384, November.
    11. Fehn, Rainer, 2001. "Korporatismus auf dem Arbeitsmarkt und institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen auf dem Kapitalmarkt: zwei Seiten ein- und derselben Medaille?," Discussion Paper Series 46, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    12. Barry Eichengreen & Fabio Ghironi, 2002. "Transatlantic Trade-Offs in the Age of Balanced Budgets and European Monetary Union," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 381-411, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; rigidities; employment protection; political economy; european labour markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

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