Labor markets in an era of adjustment : an overview

The authors have written an overview of 19 papers in a symposium devoted to an examination of the interaction between labor markets and adjustment. The purpose of their commentary is to draw general conclusions and policy lessons and to identify areas for further research. The papers include 7 issue papers and 12 country studies (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand). The country studies bring together a wealth of information that will be useful to researchers. The evidence on real wages casts considerable doubt on theoretical concerns about aggregate real wage rigidity and labor market inflexibility as a hinderance to adjustment. Declines in real wages have been dramatic and often far greater than the fall in GDP. For some countries, the declines in real wages may have been large enough to have aggregated demand effects that inhibit recovery. The studies also discuss the consequences of labor market adjustment on income distribution, gender, and human capital. The conclusions here are less clear-cut. The issue papers highlight complexities that point to country-specific answers. While real wage declines will worsen poverty, improvement in the rural-urban terms of trade during adjustment will have the opposite effect. Similarly, while employment shrinkages are likely to affect women adversely, a high female-labor intensity of tradables can serve as a countervailing force.