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The Ins and Outs of European Unemployment

Author

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  • Petrongolo, Barbara

    (University of Oxford)

  • Pissarides, Christopher A.

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

In this paper we study the contribution of inflows and outflows to the dynamics of unemployment in three European countries, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. We compare performance in these three countries making use of both administrative and labor force survey data. We find that the impact of the 1980s reforms in Britain is evident in the contributions of the inflow and outflow rates. The inflow rate became a bigger contributor after the mid 1980s, although its significance subsided again in the late 1990s and 2000s. In France the dynamics of unemployment are driven virtually entirely by the outflow rate, which is consistent with a regime with strict employment protection legislation. In Spain, however, both rates contribute significantly to the dynamics, very likely as a consequence of the prominence of fixed-term contracts since the late 1980s.

Suggested Citation

  • Petrongolo, Barbara & Pissarides, Christopher A., 2008. "The Ins and Outs of European Unemployment," IZA Discussion Papers 3315, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3315
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pedro Gomes, 2009. "Labour market flows: facts from the United Kingdom," Bank of England working papers 367, Bank of England.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job separation rates; job finding rates; unemployment dynamics;
    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
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

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