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Explaining European Unemployment: Testing the NAIRU Hypothesis and a Keynesian Approach

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  • Engelbert Stockhammer

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to compare the NAIRU hypothesis regarding ­European unemployment and a Keynesian approach to the issue and to evaluate them econometrically. For the NAIRU explanation, wage push variables are key in explaining the rise of European unemployment, for a Keynesian approach it is capital accumulation that is key. The theories are tested using time series data for Germany, France, Italy, the UK and the USA, using the seemingly unrelated regression method (SUR). Unemployment benefits, union density and the tax wedge are used as wage push variables, and the growth of business capital stock as the accumulation variable. The NAIRU specification performs poorly, with only the tax wedge having a positive effect on unemployment as predicted and only unemployment benefits having a negative effect on employment growth. However the results are not robust to changes in the specification. The Keynesian approach is more successful, with capital accumulation being statistically significant in all countries and robust to changes in the specification. Moreover, it can be pooled across countries.

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  • Engelbert Stockhammer, 2004. "Explaining European Unemployment: Testing the NAIRU Hypothesis and a Keynesian Approach," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 1-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:irapec:v:18:y:2004:i:1:p:1-26
    DOI: 10.1080/0269217032000148618
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    Cited by:

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    3. Chella, Namapsa & Phiri, Andrew, 2017. "Long-run cointegration between foreign direct investment, direct investment and unemployment in South Africa," MPRA Paper 82371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Eckhard Hein & Achim Truger, 2005. "What ever happened to Germany? Is the decline of the former european key currency country caused by structural sclerosis or by macroeconomic mismanagement?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 3-28.
    5. Engelbert Stockhammer & Erik Klär, 2011. "Capital accumulation, labour market institutions and unemployment in the medium run," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 35(2), pages 437-457.
    6. Eckhard Hein & Christian Schoder, 2011. "Interest rates, distribution and capital accumulation -- A post-Kaleckian perspective on the US and Germany," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 693-723, November.
    7. Ines Perez-Soba Aguilar & Elena Marquez de la Cruz & Ana Rosa Martinez-Canete & Alfonso Palacio-Vera, 2006. "Capital Stock and Unemployment: Searching for the Missing Link," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_475, Levy Economics Institute.
    8. Bruno Damásio & Diogo Martins, 2017. "Do Labour Market Reforms Pay Off? Unemployment and Capital Accumulation in Portugal," Working Papers Department of Economics 2017/01, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    9. António Afonso & André Albuquerque, 2018. "Sovereign Credit Rating Mismatches," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 46, pages 49-70, July.
    10. Engelbert Stockhammer, 2011. "Wage norms, capital accumulation, and unemployment: a post-Keynesian view," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 27(2), pages 295-311.
    11. Botta, Alberto & Tippet, Ben, 2020. "The roots of a divided eurozone: rigid labour markets or asymmetric technology-macroeconomic regimes?," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 30958, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    12. Ibhagui, Oyakhilome, 2017. "How Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa? New Evidence from Non-threshold and Threshold Analysis," MPRA Paper 85784, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Philip Arestis & Michelle Baddeley & Malcolm Sawyer, 2007. "The Relationship Between Capital Stock, Unemployment And Wages In Nine Emu Countries," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 125-148, April.
    14. Franziska Foissner, 2018. "Folgen einer moeglichen Abschaffung der Notstandshilfe in Oberoesterreich," ICAE Working Papers 87, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    15. Yıldırım Mustafa Ozan & Yıldırım Ahmet Eren, 2017. "The Influence of Consumption and Investment on Unemployment in Turkey: A Svar Approach," Ekonomika (Economics), Sciendo, vol. 96(1), pages 74-92, January.
    16. Vasiliki Bozani, 2011. "NAIRU, Unemployment and Post Keynesian Economics," Working Papers 1105, University of Crete, Department of Economics.
    17. Ibhagui, Oyakhilome W., 2019. "Does the long-run monetary model hold for Sub-Saharan Africa? A time series and panel-cointegration study," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 279-303.
    18. Diogo Martins & Bruno Damásio, 2020. "One Troika fits all? Job crash, pro-market structural reform and austerity-driven therapy in Portugal," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 495-521, August.
    19. Engelbert Stockhammer & Alexander Guschanski & Karsten Köhler, 2014. "Unemployment, capital accumulation and labour market institutions in the Great Recession," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 11(2), pages 182-194, September.
    20. Diogo Martins, 2024. "The post-pandemic inflation debate: a critical review," Working Papers REM 2024/0308, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.

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