IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/eeupol/v11y2010i1p3-27.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The European Economic and Monetary Union and Labour Market Reform

Author

Listed:
  • Elżbieta Bednarek-Sekunda

    (Ministry of Finance, Warsaw, Poland, elzbieta.bednarek@gmail.com)

  • Richard Jong-A-Pin

    (University of Groningen, The Netherlands, r.m.jong.a.pin@rug.nl)

  • Jakob de Haan

    (University of Groningen, The Netherlands, jakob.de.haan@rug.nl)

Abstract

We examine whether the EMU has led to greater labour market flexibility, differentiating between reform that enhances the capacity of an economy to adjust to economic shocks and reform that aims to increase long-run output. Based on a panel model and using OECD data on labour market reforms for 27 OECD countries over the period 1994—2004, we find that the two types of labour market reform are driven by different variables. Most importantly, our results suggest that the EMU has had no effect on reform that enhances the economy’s capacity to adjust to shocks. Most of our evidence for reform that increases long-run output suggests that the EMU has not affected this type of reform either.

Suggested Citation

  • Elżbieta Bednarek-Sekunda & Richard Jong-A-Pin & Jakob de Haan, 2010. "The European Economic and Monetary Union and Labour Market Reform," European Union Politics, , vol. 11(1), pages 3-27, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:11:y:2010:i:1:p:3-27
    DOI: 10.1177/1465116509353458
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1465116509353458
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1465116509353458?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Potrafke, Niklas, 2010. "The growth of public health expenditures in OECD countries: Do government ideology and electoral motives matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 797-810, December.
    2. Romain Duval & Jørgen Elmeskov, 2005. "The Effects of EMU on Structural Reforms in Labour and Product Markets," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 438, OECD Publishing.
    3. Sibert, Anne & Sutherland, Alan, 2000. "Monetary union and labor market reform," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 421-435, August.
    4. Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna & Vincenzo Galasso, 2011. "The Euro and Structural Reforms," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 2(1).
    5. Christian Bjørnskov & Niklas Potrafke, 2011. "Politics and privatization in Central and Eastern Europe," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 19(2), pages 201-230, April.
    6. Nicola Brandt & Jean-Marc Burniaux & Romain Duval, 2005. "Assessing the OECD Jobs Strategy: Past Developments and Reforms," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 429, OECD Publishing.
    7. Eijffinger, Sylvester & Haan, Jakob de, 2000. "European Monetary and Fiscal Policy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198776161.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    9. Hans Pitlik, 2008. "The Impact of Growth Performance and Political Regime Type on Economic Policy Liberalization," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 258-278, May.
    10. Inklaar, Robert & Jong-A-Pin, Richard & de Haan, Jakob, 2008. "Trade and business cycle synchronization in OECD countries--A re-examination," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 646-666, May.
    11. Duval, Romain, 2008. "Is there a role for macroeconomic policy in fostering structural reforms? Panel evidence from OECD countries over the past two decades," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 491-502, June.
    12. Axel Dreher, 2006. "Does globalization affect growth? Evidence from a new index of globalization," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 1091-1110.
    13. Calmfors, Lars, 2001. "Unemployment, Labor Market Reform, and Monetary Union," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 265-289, April.
    14. Jakob De Haan & Robert Inklaar & Richard Jong‐A‐Pin, 2008. "Will Business Cycles In The Euro Area Converge? A Critical Survey Of Empirical Research," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 234-273, April.
    15. Stiegert, Roger & Leiner-Killinger, Nadine & López Pérez, Víctor & Vitale, Giovanni, 2007. "Structural reforms in EMU and the role of monetary policy: a survey of the literature," Occasional Paper Series 66, European Central Bank.
    16. Heylen, Freddy & Everaert, Gerdie, 2000. "Success and Failure of Fiscal Consolidation in the OECD: A Multivariate Analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 105(1-2), pages 103-124, October.
    17. Keefer, Philip & Stasavage, David, 2003. "The Limits of Delegation: Veto Players, Central Bank Independence, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(3), pages 407-423, August.
    18. Jens Høj & Vincenzo Galasso & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Thai-Thanh Dang, 2006. "The Political Economy of Structural Reform: Empirical Evidence from OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 501, OECD Publishing.
    19. Henrik Enderlein, 2006. "Adjusting to EMU," European Union Politics, , vol. 7(1), pages 113-140, March.
    20. Wyplosz, Charles (ed.), 2001. "The Impact of EMU on Europe and the Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199245314.
    21. Jochen Mierau & Richard Jong-A-Pin & Jakob de Haan, 2007. "Do political variables affect fiscal policy adjustment decisions? New empirical evidence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 297-319, December.
    22. Barry Eichengreen & Charles Wyplosz, 1998. "The Stability Pact: more than a minor nuisance?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 13(26), pages 66-113.
    23. Marco Buti & André Sapir (ed.), 2002. "EMU and Economic Policy in Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2871.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter Wierts & Henk van Kerkhoff & Jakob de Haan, 2012. "Trade Dynamics in the Euro Area: The role of export destination and composition," DNB Working Papers 354, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    2. Campos, Nauro F. & Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2020. "Close encounters of the European kind: Economic integration, sectoral heterogeneity and structural reforms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    3. Torój, Andrzej & Bednarek, Elżbieta & Bęza-Bojanowska, Joanna & Osińska, Joanna & Waćko, Katarzyna & Witkowski, Dariusz, 2012. "EMU: the (post-)crisis perspective. Literature survey and implications for the euro-candidates," MF Working Papers 12, Ministry of Finance in Poland, revised 06 Mar 2012.
    4. Torój, Andrzej, 2012. "Excessive Imbalance Procedure in the EU: a Welfare Evaluation," MF Working Papers 11, Ministry of Finance in Poland, revised 03 Feb 2012.
    5. Jakob de Haan & Jeroen Hessel & Niels Gilbert, 2014. "Reforming the architecture of EMU: Ensuring stability in Europe," DNB Working Papers 446, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    6. Mikosch, Heiner & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2012. "Has the EMU reduced wage growth and unemployment? Testing a model of trade union behavior," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 27-37.
    7. Louis Jaeck & Sehjeong Kim, 2014. "The Impact of EMU Enlargement on Structural Reforms: A Political Economy Approach," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 20(1), pages 73-86, February.
    8. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Zohal Hessami, 2017. "Monetary integration, soft budget constraints, and the EMU sovereign debt crises," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 252-275, November.
    9. Torój, Andrzej, 2015. "Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure in the EU: a Welfare Evaluation," MF Working Papers 22, Ministry of Finance in Poland.
    10. Yu-Fu Chen & Gylfi Zoega, 2011. "Floating Exchange Rates as Employment Protection," DEGIT Conference Papers c016_038, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    11. Kuokštis, Vytautas & Asali, Muhammad & Spurga, Simonas Algirdas, 2022. "Labor market flexibility and exchange rate regimes," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Rasmus Wiese & Jakob de Haan & João Tovar Jalles, 2023. "The impact of endogenous product and labour market reforms on unemployment: New evidence based on local projections," Working Papers REM 2023/0296, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    13. Vera Eichenauer & Ronald Indergand & Isabel Z. Martínez & Christoph Sax, 2020. "Constructing Daily Economic Sentiment Indices Based on Google Trends," KOF Working papers 20-484, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    14. Campos, Nauro F. & De Grauwe, Paul & Ji, Yuemei, 2023. "Structural reforms and economic performance: the experience of advanced economies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120870, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Torój, Andrzej, 2017. "Managing external macroeconomic imbalances in the EU: the welfare cost of scoreboard-based constraints," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 293-311.
    16. Ioannou, Demosthenes & Stracca, Livio, 2014. "Have the euro area and EU governance worked? Just the facts," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-17.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vassilis Monastiriotis & Sotirios Zartaloudis, 2010. "Beyond the crisis: EMU and labour market reform pressures in good and bad times," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 23, European Institute, LSE.
    2. Potrafke, Niklas, 2010. "The growth of public health expenditures in OECD countries: Do government ideology and electoral motives matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 797-810, December.
    3. Hefeker Carsten, 2019. "Helping with the Homework: Support Mechanisms for Uncertain Reforms in a Monetary Union," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(5-6), pages 983-1004, October.
    4. Chang, Chun Ping & Berdiev, Aziz N., 2011. "The political economy of energy regulation in OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 816-825, September.
    5. Dragos Adascalitei & Clemente Pignatti Morano, 2016. "Drivers and effects of labour market reforms: Evidence from a novel policy compendium," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-32, December.
    6. Roel Beetsma & Massimo Giuliodori, 2010. "The Macroeconomic Costs and Benefits of the EMU and Other Monetary Unions: An Overview of Recent Research," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 603-641, September.
    7. Nadine Leiner-Killinger & Víctor López Pérez & Roger Stiegert & Giovanni Vitale, 2007. "Structural reforms in EMU and the role of monetary policy – a survey of the literature," Occasional Paper Series 66, European Central Bank.
    8. Vera Eichenauer & Ronald Indergand & Isabel Z. Martínez & Christoph Sax, 2020. "Constructing Daily Economic Sentiment Indices Based on Google Trends," KOF Working papers 20-484, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    9. Campos, Nauro F. & Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2020. "Close encounters of the European kind: Economic integration, sectoral heterogeneity and structural reforms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    10. Agnello, Luca & Castro, Vitor & Jalles, João Tovar & Sousa, Ricardo M., 2015. "What determines the likelihood of structural reforms?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 129-145.
    11. Marcelo Sánchez, 2012. "Structural Reform and Transparency in a Monetary Union," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 559-577, July.
    12. Da Silva, António Dias & Givone, Audrey & Sondermann, David, 2017. "When do countries implement structural reforms?," Working Paper Series 2078, European Central Bank.
    13. Yu-Fu Chen & Gylfi Zoega, 2011. "Floating Exchange Rates as Employment Protection," DEGIT Conference Papers c016_038, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    14. Niklas Potrafke, 2010. "Does government ideology influence deregulation of product markets? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 135-155, April.
    15. Mikosch, Heiner & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2012. "Has the EMU reduced wage growth and unemployment? Testing a model of trade union behavior," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 27-37.
    16. Louis Jaeck & Sehjeong Kim, 2014. "The Impact of EMU Enlargement on Structural Reforms: A Political Economy Approach," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 20(1), pages 73-86, February.
    17. Jacques Pelkmans & Lourdes Acedo Montoya & Alessandro Maravalle, 2008. "How product market reforms lubricate shock adjustment in the euro area," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 341, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    18. Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna & Vincenzo Galasso, 2011. "The Euro and Structural Reforms," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 2(1).
    19. Niklas Potrafke, 2012. "Political cycles and economic performance in OECD countries: empirical evidence from 1951–2006," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 155-179, January.
    20. Christian Bjørnskov & Niklas Potrafke, 2012. "Political Ideology and Economic Freedom Across Canadian Provinces," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 38(2), pages 143-166.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    EMU; labour market reform;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:11:y:2010:i:1:p:3-27. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.