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The Rise and Fall of Swiss Unemployment: Relative Demand Shocks, Wage Rigidities, and Temporary Immigrants

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Author Info
Puhani, Patrick A. () (SIAW, University of St. Gallen, WDI, CEPR and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

Switzerland, traditionally a ‘zero unemployment’ economy, has seen an unprecedented rise in joblessness in the 1990s although unemployment fell again to a rather low level after 1997. This paper tests whether Switzerland experienced a negative relative net demand shock against the low skilled (like the US) during this period. It turns out that only workers with an educational level below apprenticeship were affected by such a shock. Furthermore, I test whether wages reacted flexibly to this shock and find that they were rigid, which can explain the relative unemployment increase for this group. Finally, I test whether the skill mix of temporary immigrants was adjusted to the relative demand shock. The evidence suggests that it was changed during the period around 1997 when unemployment peaked. By 2001, however, the educational mix of temporary immigrants was not significantly different from its 1991 level any more, although relative unemployment for the least skilled was still relatively high in face of the relative wage rigidity affecting this group.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 684.

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Length: 66 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2003
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp684

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Related research
Keywords: earnings; non-employment; rigidity; identification; foreigners; work permits;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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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.:
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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. Dragana Djurdjevic, 2005. "Unemployment and Under-Employment: The Case of Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 141(I), pages 23-70, March. [Downloadable!]
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