Strukturelle Arbeitslosigkeit in Europa : eine Bestandsaufnahme (Structural unemployment in Europe * an inventory)

"This paper summarises, explains and evaluates the most important findings on the scale and causes of structural unemployment in Europe against the background of a standardised theoretical frame of reference. In literature, structural unemployment is usually interpreted as the unemployment that is consistent with a constant inflation rate in the long term. This unemployment rate is also called the long-term NAIRU or natural unemployment rate. The critical evaluation of various methods to estimate the long-term NAIRU and a short overview of the variety of results of different empirical studies make it obvious that NAIRU estimates do not permit precise statements at present regarding the scale of structural unemployment. Empirical research on the determinants of the long-term NAIRU suggests that the international differences in the development and in the level of the long-term NAIRU can best be explained by the interaction of macro-economic shocks and institutions. However, a detailed examination of the individual studies shows the low robustness and the partly inconsistent estimate results. Therefore, at the present state of research, the macro-econometric evidence concerning the scale and causes of structural unemployment must be treated with caution" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))