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Unemployment and Economic Welfare

Author

Listed:
  • David Andolfatto

    (Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University)

  • Paul Gomme

Abstract

Statistics that measure labor market activity, such as employment and unemployment, are often interpreted in the press and by politicians as measures of economic performance and social well-being. Discussions that focus on cross-country comparisons of unemployment, for example, seem to be based without exception on the premise that unemployment represents a social and economic ill, so that less of it is generally to be preferred. The purpose of this note is to demonstrate that some care should be exercised when constructing a map between labor market behavior and economic welfare and that, generally speaking, such interpretations are not justified in the absence of information concerning the economic circumstances that determine individual labor market choices.

Suggested Citation

  • David Andolfatto & Paul Gomme, 1999. "Unemployment and Economic Welfare," Working Papers 99002, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics, revised Jan 1999.
    • Handle: RePEc:wat:wpaper:99002
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    2. Thomas Dickson Ndamsa & Gladys Njang & Francis Menjo Baye, 2020. "Social Welfare Consequences of the Radius of Employment Decency," Athens Journal of Business & Economics, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), vol. 6(3), pages 211-238, April.
    3. Ozili, Peterson K, 2025. "Financial inclusion, religiosity and economic welfare in majority Christian, Hindu and Muslim countries," MPRA Paper 124262, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Iman Cheratian & Saleh Goltabar & Luis A. Gil-Alaña, 2023. "The unemployment hysteresis by territory, gender, and age groups in Iran," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau, 2014. "Credit, Vacancies and Unemployment Fluctuations," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 17(2), pages 191-205, April.

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