IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/irapec/v24y2010i3p333-357.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

By what measure? A comparison of French and US labor market performance with new indicators of employment adequacy

Author

Listed:
  • David Howell
  • Anna Okatenko

Abstract

Comparisons of national labor market performance have conventionally relied on standard unemployment and employment rates (UR and ER) and these two 'quantity-of-employment' indicators have framed policy debates on the merits of reforms that would move European labor markets closer to the 'American Model.' This paper compares French and US performance using a variety of alternative indicators, including new measures that account for job quality. While the UR was much higher for France between 1984 and 2007, it was lower than the US rate before 1984 and the rates have since converged. It is also significant but not well-known that both prime-age ERs and youth unemployment-to-population rates have been quite similar in recent decades. We calculate two new summary indicators from each country's main household survey for 1993-2005 designed to account for the adequacy of pay and hours of work as well as the number of unemployed and employed (the underemployed share of the labor force and the adequately employed share of the working age population). France shows superior performance on both, especially for less-educated workers, and the French advantage has grown substantially since the late 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • David Howell & Anna Okatenko, 2010. "By what measure? A comparison of French and US labor market performance with new indicators of employment adequacy," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 333-357.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:irapec:v:24:y:2010:i:3:p:333-357
    DOI: 10.1080/02692171003701578
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02692171003701578
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02692171003701578?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Howell, 2005. "Beyond Unemployment," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 5-28.
    2. Blanchard, Olivier & Wolfers, Justin, 2000. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 1-33, March.
    3. John Schmitt, 2008. "The Decline of Good Jobs:," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 5-25.
    4. Stephen R. G. Jones & W. Craig Riddell, 1999. "The Measurement of Unemployment: An Empirical Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(1), pages 147-162, January.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10045 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Eve Caroli & Jérôme Gautié, 2008. "Low wage work in France," Post-Print hal-00266332, HAL.
    7. Olivier Blanchard, 2006. "European unemployment: the evolution of facts and ideas [‘The macroeconomics of low inflation’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 21(45), pages 6-59.
    8. Howell David R. & Baker Dean & Glyn Andrew & Schmitt John, 2007. "Are Protective Labor Market Institutions at the Root of Unemployment? A Critical Review of the Evidence," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-73, May.
    9. Lucie Davoine & Christine Erhel, 2006. "Monitoring Employment Quality in Europe: European Employment Strategy Indicators and Beyond," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00272015, HAL.
    10. Stephen Nickell & Luca Nunziata & Wolfgang Ochel, 2005. "Unemployment in the OECD Since the 1960s. What Do We Know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(500), pages 1-27, January.
    11. Lucie Davoine & Christine Erhel, 2006. "Monitoring Employment Quality in Europe: European Employment Strategy Indicators and Beyond," Post-Print halshs-00272015, HAL.
    12. 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 Publishing.
    13. David BESCOND & Anne CHÂTAIGNIER & Farhad MEHRAN, 2003. "Seven indicators to measure decent work: An international comparison," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 142(2), pages 179-212, June.
    14. Dharam GHAI, 2003. "Decent work: Concept and indicators," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 142(2), pages 113-145, June.
    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. David R. Howell, 2010. "Institutions, Aggregate Demand and Cross-Country Employment Performance: Alternative Theoretical Perspectives and the Evidence," Working Papers wp228, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    2. Carola Grün & Wolfgang Hauser & Thomas Rhein, 2010. "Is Any Job Better than No Job? Life Satisfaction and Re-employment," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 285-306, September.
    3. Philippe Askenazy & Eve Caroli & Jérôme Gautié, 2009. "Un panorama des bas salaires et de la qualité de l'emploi peu qualifié en France," Working Papers halshs-00567693, HAL.
    4. David R. Howell & Bert M. Azizoglu & Anna Okatenko, 2012. "Confronting Low Pay: Minimum Wage Policy and Employment in the U.S. and France," SCEPA working paper series. 2012-5, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.

    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. Sachs Andreas & Smolny Werner, 2015. "Youth Unemployment in the OECD: The Role of Institutions," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(4-5), pages 403-417, August.
    2. Lastauskas, Povilas & Stakėnas, Julius, 2020. "Labor market reforms and the monetary policy environment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Bertola, Giuseppe, 2017. "European unemployment revisited: Shocks, institutions, integration," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 588-612.
    4. Andrea Bassanini & Romain Duval, 2009. "Unemployment, institutions, and reform complementarities: re-assessing the aggregate evidence for OECD countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 40-59, Spring.
    5. Alfred Stiglbauer, 2006. "The (New) OECD Jobs Study: Introduction and Assessment," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 3, pages 58-74.
    6. Lehmann, Hartmut & Muravyev, Alexander, 2009. "How Important Are Labor Market Institutions for Labor Market Performance in Transition Countries?," IZA Discussion Papers 4673, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Dosi, G. & Pereira, M.C. & Roventini, A. & Virgillito, M.E., 2017. "When more flexibility yields more fragility: The microfoundations of Keynesian aggregate unemployment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 162-186.
    8. David R. Howell & Miriam Rehm, 2009. "Unemployment compensation and high European unemployment: a reassessment with new benefit indicators," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 60-93, Spring.
    9. International Monetary Fund, 2008. "Republic of Poland: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2008/131, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Eichhorst, Werner & Feil, Michael & Braun, Christoph, 2008. "What have we learned? Assessing labor market institutions and indicators," IAB-Discussion Paper 200822, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:661-685 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Etienne Lalé, 2018. "Turbulence and the employment experience of older workers," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(2), pages 735-784, July.
    13. Lastauskas, Povilas & Stakenas, Julius, 2018. "Structural labour market reforms in the EU-15: Single-country vs. coordinated counterfactuals," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 88-99.
    14. Povilas Lastauskas & Julius Stakėnas, 2020. "Labour market institutions in open economy: Sectoral reallocations, aggregate adjustments, and spillovers," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 814-845, August.
    15. Heimberger, Philipp & Kapeller, Jakob & Schütz, Bernhard, 2017. "The NAIRU determinants: What’s structural about unemployment in Europe?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 883-908.
    16. Maciej Bukowski & Grzegorz Koloch & Piotr Lewandowski, 2013. "Shocks and rigidities as determinants of CEE labour markets’ performance," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 21(3), pages 553-581, July.
    17. Alfonso Arpaia & Gilles Mourre, 2012. "Institutions And Performance In European Labour Markets: Taking A Fresh Look At Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 1-41, February.
    18. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/9d007rc2q9huruni0kde2vr73 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. David R. Howell, 2010. "Institutions, Aggregate Demand and Cross-Country Employment Performance: Alternative Theoretical Perspectives and the Evidence," Working Papers wp228, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    20. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Prat, Julien & Schmerer, Hans-Jörg, 2011. "Trade and unemployment: What do the data say?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(6), pages 741-758, August.
    21. Boulhol, Hervé, 2011. "Unemployment and relative labor market institutions between trading partners," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 83-91, January.
    22. Marek Antosiewicz & Piotr Lewandowski, 2014. "What if you were German? - DSGE approach to the Great Recession on labour markets," IBS Working Papers 1/2014, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych, revised Dec 2014.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment incidence; wage level and structure; methodology for organizing macroeconomic data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C8 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • P1 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies
    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems

    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:taf:irapec:v:24:y:2010:i:3:p:333-357. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIRA20 .

    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.