Identifying asymmetric effects of labor market reforms

"This paper investigates whether the effects of structural labor market reforms depend on the business cycle. Based on search and matching theory, we propose an unobserved components approach with Markov switching to distinguish the effects of structural reforms that increase the flexibility of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gehrke, Britta, Weber, Enzo
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Nürnberg 2017
IAB
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19393886124911110689-identifying-asymmetric-effects.htm
Description
Summary:"This paper investigates whether the effects of structural labor market reforms depend on the business cycle. Based on search and matching theory, we propose an unobserved components approach with Markov switching to distinguish the effects of structural reforms that increase the flexibility of the labor market in recession and expansion. Our results for Germany and Spain show that reforms have substantially weaker expansionary effects in the short-run when implemented in recessions. In consequence, reforms are unlikely to mitigate the impact of crisis in the short-run. From a policy perspective, these results highlight the costs of introducing reforms in recessions."
Physical Description:35 p.
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