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  4. Fall 2004
  5. Why are European Countries Diverging in their Unemployment Experience?

Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

Why are European Countries Diverging in their Unemployment Experience?

  • Gilles Saint-Paul
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 18, no. 4, Fall 2004
(pp. 49–68)
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Abstract

During the nineties, unemployment fell in a number of European countries while it remained high in others. This Paper discusses potential causes for that evolution in light of recent economic research, emphasizing obstacles to reform due to political constraints, the prevalence of ideology, and agency issues within those bureaucracies concerned with the unemployment problem. Some speculative thoughts are offered as to why those factors might be more stringent in countries where unemployment remained high.

Citation

Saint-Paul, Gilles. 2004. "Why are European Countries Diverging in their Unemployment Experience?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, 18 (4): 49–68. DOI: 10.1257/0895330042632672

JEL Classification

  • E24 Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital
  • J68 Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies: Public Policy
  • J80 Labor Standards: General
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