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Measuring the Long Wave. Unemployment, Discouragement and Semi-Employment in Italy, During and After the Crisis

In: Social Exclusion. Short and Long Term Causes and Consequences

Author

Listed:
  • Leonello Tronti

    (Università di Roma Tre)

  • Riccardo Gatto

    (ISTAT)

Abstract

Official data indicate a much less severe impact of the international crisis on employment in Italy than might have been predicted. But the standard measure of unemployment agreed at international level has some shortcomings. Its “objective” definition of unemployment is a poor fit with the Italian labour market. Also, the considerable increase in labour hoarding and the emergence of “semi-employment” – the alternation of brief periods of work with periods of unemployment or economic inactivity – make the state of the market hard to assess. This paper offers an in-depth examination of the impact of the crisis, using labour force survey data to measure labour underutilization, labour hoarding, discouraged, and semi-employed workers. The picture that emerges is one of a “long wave” of available labour underutilization. This wave will predictably last for years to come, calling for a decisive reform of unemployment benefits, not just to provide income support for those caught up in the long wave of joblessness, but also to permit quicker reorganization of production. The reform will have to highlight the diverse interests and roles of government and of the social partners, within the framework of a new development and industrial policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonello Tronti & Riccardo Gatto, 2012. "Measuring the Long Wave. Unemployment, Discouragement and Semi-Employment in Italy, During and After the Crisis," AIEL Series in Labour Economics, in: Giuliana Parodi & Dario Sciulli (ed.), Social Exclusion. Short and Long Term Causes and Consequences, edition 1, chapter 9, pages 171-198, AIEL - Associazione Italiana Economisti del Lavoro.
  • Handle: RePEc:ail:chapts:05-09
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    File URL: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-7908-2772-9_9
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    Cited by:

    1. Laura Barbieri & Chiara Mussida, 2018. "Structural differences across macroregions: an empirical investigation," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 215-246, May.
    2. Ricci, Chiara Assunta & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "The role of Great Recession on income polarization by population groups," GLO Discussion Paper Series 766, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Chiara Assunta Ricci & Sergio Scicchitano, 2021. "Decomposing changes in income polarization by population group: what happened during the crisis?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(1), pages 235-259, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour Underutilization Measurement; Unemployment; Labour Hoarding; Discouragement; Semi Employment; Unemployment Benefit.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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