Crossing the River: A Comparative Perspective on Italian Employment Dynamics

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Crossing the river A comparative perspective on Italian employment dynamics This paper studies the unprecedented job destruction which occurred throughout Europe during the recession of the early 1990s. It raises the question whether changes in the institutional structure of various countries' labour markets may have deepened the normal effects of the recession. Institutional, legal and sociopolitical safety nets were used to protect many European employees from technological and demand shocks throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Important steps have since been taken to deregulate industrial relations. European labour markets may currently be ‘in the middle of the river’: they already experience the negative employment aspects of an ‘American’ labour market without yet enjoying its benefits. Based on a study of several countries, the article concludes that the social costs of deregulation will be smallest if the intended destination of the transition is reached credibly, and without hesitation. Policy-makers must point decisively towards a well-defined riverbank rather than leaving the labour market in the middle of the stream. — Giuseppe Bertola and Andrea Ichino

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: