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Labour Market Institutions and Labour Market Performance in Transition Countries

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  • Horst Feldmann

Abstract

This article examines five types of labour market institutions: statutory minimum wages, working-time regulations, hiring and firing regulations, trade unions and industrial relations. It uses the results of surveys that were carried our between 1996 and 2001 among senior business executives from 12 transition countries. In these surveys the managers characterised the institutions of their respective countries. The article conducts multivariate regressions incorporating the survey results and finds that high statutory minimum wages, strict working-time regulations, tight hiring and firing regulations, powerful unions as well as confrontational industrial relations lead to higher unemployment and lower employment, mainly among the problem groups of the labour market: the low-skilled, the long-term unemployed, young people and women.

Suggested Citation

  • Horst Feldmann, 2005. "Labour Market Institutions and Labour Market Performance in Transition Countries," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 47-82.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:pocoec:v:17:y:2005:i:1:p:47-82
    DOI: 10.1080/14631370500052720
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    Cited by:

    1. Horst Feldmann, 2008. "Business regulation and labor market performance around the world," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 201-235, April.
    2. Feldmann, Horst, 2009. "Business regulation, labor force participation and employment in industrial countries," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 238-260.
    3. Jens Holscher & Cristiano Perugini & Fabrizio Pompei, 2011. "Wage inequality, labour market flexibility and duality in Eastern and Western Europe," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 271-310.
    4. Mondschean, Thomas & Oppenheimer, Margaret, 2011. "Regional Long-term and Short-term Unemployment and Education in Transition: The Case of Poland," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 23-48.
    5. Horst Feldmann, 2009. "The quality of the legal system and labor market performance around the world," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 39-65, August.
    6. repec:eid:wpaper:12/09 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Horst Feldmann, 2009. "The Quality of Industrial Relations and Unemployment in Developing Countries," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 56-69, February.
    8. Zhihui Dai & Yue Niu & Hongru Zhang & Xiaodi Niu, 2022. "Impact of the Transforming and Upgrading of China’s Labor-Intensive Manufacturing Industry on the Labor Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-25, October.
    9. Y. Yuryk, 2020. "Informal Employment In Ukraine And Formation Of Institutional Conditions Of Its Minimization," Economy and Forecasting, Valeriy Heyets, issue 4, pages 36-59.
    10. Koffi Kpognon & Henri Atangana Ondoa & Mamadou Bah & Marie Fanny Messe, 2020. "Ouverture commerciale, institutions du marché du travail et emploi des jeunes en Afrique," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(S1), pages 91-105, November.
    11. Horst Feldmann, 2006. "Government Size and Unemployment: Evidence from Industrial Countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 443-459, June.

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