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Can Labour Market Institutions Explain Unemployment Rates in New EU Member States?. CEPS ENEPRI Working Papers No. 27, 1 July 2004

Ederveen, Sjef and Thissen, Laura. (2004) Can Labour Market Institutions Explain Unemployment Rates in New EU Member States?. CEPS ENEPRI Working Papers No. 27, 1 July 2004. [Working Paper]

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    Abstract

    This study poses the question about whether labour market institutions can explain unemployment rates in the ten new European Union member states. In five out of the ten new member states, unemployment rates lie above the average in the 15 member states of the European Union (EU-15) that comprised the EU prior to May 2004. The study finds that labour market institutions in the acceding countries are less rigid than in the EU-15. Moreover, labour market institutions explain only a minor part of unemployment in the new EU member states. This does not mean that these countries have no labour market problems. Just as in the EU-15, a great deal of heterogeneity exists among the acceding countries. In some of them, labour market reforms could prove a key issue in improving employment performance. The main worry is the poor labour market performance in Poland and the Slovak Republic, where unemployment has risen to almost 20%. The main reasons for this growth are i) postponed restructuring in combination with tight monetary policy, ii) poor governance, and iii) an increasing labour force.

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    Item Type: Working Paper
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Labour market institutions; social security; wage bargaining; unemployment; transition economies; EU accession countries.
    Subjects for non-EU documents: EU policies and themes > EU institutions & developments > institutional development/policy > general
    Countries > Latvia
    Countries > Estonia
    Countries > Slovak Republic
    Countries > Lithuania
    Countries > Slovenia
    Countries > Czech Republic
    Countries > Cyprus
    EU policies and themes > Policies & related activities > employment/labour market > employment/unemployment
    Countries > Malta
    Countries > Poland
    Countries > Hungary
    Subjects for EU documents: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Series and Periodicals: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Annual Reports: UNSPECIFIED
    Series: Series > Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels) > ENEPRI Working Papers
    Depositing User: Phil Wilkin
    Official EU Document: No
    Language: English
    Date Deposited: 23 Feb 2008
    Page Range: p. 47
    Last Modified: 15 Feb 2011 17:44
    URI: http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/6734

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