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The German labor market miracle, 2003-2015: An assessment

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  • Burda, Michael C.

Abstract

This paper reviews the dramatic and widely noted developments in the German labor market in the past decade and surveys the most plausible reasons for these changes. Alternative hypotheses are compared and contrasted. I argue that the labor market reforms associated with the Agenda 2010 - the Hartz reforms - played a role at least as great as that of increasing flexibility of wage determination and the allocation of hours across workers. Until 2010, the German economic miracle could be accounted for by an expansion of part-time work, which has since been supplanted by a sustained expansion of full-time employment. Supported by wage flexibility in this segment, part-time employment represents an important new margin of flexibility in the German labor market.

Suggested Citation

  • Burda, Michael C., 2016. "The German labor market miracle, 2003-2015: An assessment," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2016-005, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2016-005
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Biewen & Miriam Sturm, 2022. "Why a labour market boom does not necessarily bring down inequality: putting together Germany's inequality puzzle," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 121-149, June.
    2. Daniel Graeber & Alexander S. Kritikos & Johannes Seebauer, 2021. "COVID-19: a crisis of the female self-employed," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(4), pages 1141-1187, October.
    3. Sophie Dunsch, 2017. "Age- and Gender-Specific Unemployment and Okun’s Law in CEE Countries," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 377-393, July.
    4. Burda Michael C. & Seele Stefanie, 2017. "Das deutsche Arbeitsmarktwunder: Eine Bilanz," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 179-204, October.
    5. Burda Michael C. & Seele Stefanie, 2017. "Das deutsche Arbeitsmarktwunder: Eine Bilanz," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 179-204, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    German labor market miracle; Hartz reforms; part-time work; wage inequality;
    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
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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