Why are European Countries Diverging in their Unemployment Experience?

摘要

Unemployment has been relatively high in many European countries for more than 30 years. However, since the 1990s some countries have managed to reduce unemployment substantially, like the United Kingdom, while others seem to be stuck at high unemployment levels, like Germany and France. This divergence among European countries offers evidence about the causes and cures of unemployment. This paper begins by presenting some evidence that the countries who got out of the unemployment problem implemented a number of labor market reforms. I then discuss the potential obstacles to labor market flexibility and offer some perspectives to explain why some countries have reformed their labor markets and others have not.