This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Assessing the Long-Run Economic Impact of Labour Law Systems: A theoretical Reappraisal and Analysis of New Time Series Data

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Simon Deakin
Prabirjit Sarkar

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

Standard economic theory sees labour law as an exogenous interference with market relations and predicts mostly negative impacts on employment and productivity. We argue for a more nuanced theoretical position: labour law is, at least in part, endogenous, with both the production and the application of labour law norms influenced by national and sectoral contexts, and by complementarities between the institutions of the labour market and those of corporate governance and financial markets. Legal origin may also operate as a force shaping the content of the law and its economic impact. Time-series analysis using a new dataset on legal change from the 1970s to the mid-2000s shows evidence of positive correlations between regulation and growth in employment and productivity, at least for France and Germany. No relationship, either positive or negative, is found for the UK, and although the US shows a weak negative relationship between regulation and employment growth, this is offset by productivity gains.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/pdf/WP367.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by ESRC Centre for Business Research in its series ESRC Centre for Business Research - Working Papers with number wp367.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Jun 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp367

Note: PRO-2
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Howard Cobb).

Related research
Keywords: labour law; employment; productivity; redistribution; complementarities; legal origins; varieties of capitalism;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
J83 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Workers' Rights

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. John Armour & Simon Deakin & Prabirjit Sarkar & Mathias Siems & Ajit Singh, 2007. "Shareholder Protection and Stock Market Development: An Empirical Test of the Legal Origins Hypothesis," ESRC Centre for Business Research - Working Papers wp358, ESRC Centre for Business Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Andrea Bassanini & Romain Duval, 2006. "Employment Patterns in OECD Countries: Reassessing the Role of Policies and Institutions," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 35, OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Andrea Bassanini & Danielle Venn, 2007. "Assessing the Impact of Labour Market Policies on Productivity: A Difference-in-Differences Approach," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 54, OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. [Downloadable!]
  4. David H. Autor & William R. Kerr & Adriana D. Kugler, 2007. "Do Employment Protections Reduce Productivity? Evidence from U.S. States," Harvard Business School Working Papers 07-048, Harvard Business School. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "The great reversals: the politics of financial development in the twentieth century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 5-50, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Mathias Siems & Priya Lele, 2006. "Shareholder Protection: A Leximetric Approach," ESRC Centre for Business Research - Working Papers wp324, ESRC Centre for Business Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Nicoletti, Giuseppe & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2003. "Regulation, productivity, and growth : OECD evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2944, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Simon Deakin & Priya Lele & Mathias Siems, 2007. "The Evolution of Labour Law: Calibrating and Comparing Regulatory Regimes," ESRC Centre for Business Research - Working Papers wp352, ESRC Centre for Business Research. [Downloadable!]
  9. Boeri, Tito & Nicoletti, Giuseppe & Scarpetta, Stefano, 2000. "Regulation And Labour Market Performance," CEPR Discussion Papers 2420, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Bruno Amable & Lilas Demmou & Donatella Gatti, 2007. "Employment Performance and Institutions: New Answers to an Old Question," IZA Discussion Papers 2731, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    Other versions:
  12. Janine Berg & Sandrine Cazes, 2007. "The Doing Business Indicators: Measurement issues and political implications," Economic and Labour Market Papers 2007-06, International Labour Office. [Downloadable!]
  13. Andrew Glyn & Dean Baker & David Howell & John Schmitt, 2003. "Labor Market Institutions and Unemployment: A Critical Assessment of the Cross-Country Evidence," Economics Series Working Papers 168, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Marco Pagano & Paolo F. Volpin, 2005. "The Political Economy of Corporate Governance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1005-1030, September. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Koeniger, Winfried & Vindigni, Andrea, 2003. "Employment Protection and Product Market Regulation," IZA Discussion Papers 880, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  16. Donatella Gatti, 2008. "Macroeconomic effects of ownership structure in OECD countries," PSE Working Papers 2008-09, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Richard B. Freeman, 2005. "Labour Market Institutions Without Blinders: The Debate over Flexibility and Labour Market Performance," NBER Working Papers 11286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  18. Saint-Paul, Gilles, 1997. "Is labour rigidity harming Europe's competitiveness? The effect of job protection on the pattern of trade and welfare," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 499-506, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. Feldmann, Horst, 2008. "The quality of industrial relations and unemployment around the world," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 200-203, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Addison, John T & Blackburn, McKinley L, 1994. "The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 181-90, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Koeniger, Winfried, 2005. "Dismissal costs and innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 79-84, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Edward L. Glaeser & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Legal Origins," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(4), pages 1193-1229, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Simon Deakin, 2008. "Legal Origin, Juridical Form and Industrialisation in Historical Perspective: The Case of the Employment Contract and the Joint-Stock Company," ESRC Centre for Business Research - Working Papers wp369, ESRC Centre for Business Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Simon Deakin, 2008. "Legal Origin, Juridical Form and Industrialisation in Historical Perspective: The Case of the Employment Contract and the Joint-Stock Company," WEF Working Papers 0042, ESRC World Economy and Finance Research Programme, Birkbeck, University of London. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? You can import bibliographic info in various formats into you bibliographic tool, or just into your word processor. See under "publisher info" on each abstract page.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-26.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.