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Anatomy of Policy Complementarities

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Author Info
Orszag, J. Michael (Department of Economics, Birkbeck College, University of London)
Snower, Dennis J. (Department of Economics, Birkbeck College, University of London)

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Abstract

The analysis provides a new explanation for two widespread problems concerning European unemployment policy: the disappointingly small effect of many past reform measures on unemployment, and the political difficulties in implementing more extensive reform programs. We argue that the heart of the difficulty may be the failure of many European governments to implement broad-based reform strategies. Our analysis suggests that major unemployment policies are characterized by economic complementarities (in the sense that the effectiveness of one policy depends on the implementation of other policies) and political complementarities (in that the ability to gain political consent for one policy depends on the acceptance of other policies). Under these circumstances, incremental, small-scale adjustments of existing policy packages are doomed to failure. Our analysis suggests, instead, that the European unemployment problem should be tackled through "broad" reforms that manage to exploit the salient economic and political complementarities among individual policy measures.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Research Institute of Industrial Economics in its series Working Paper Series with number 500.

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Length: 54 pages
Date of creation: 23 Jun 1998
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0500

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Related research
Keywords: Unemployment; Complementarities; Political economy; Employment policy; Unemployment benefits; Taxation; Inequality;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy
H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
H61 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Budget; Budget Systems
I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General
J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Public Policy

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