Towards Higher Employment. The Role of Labour Market Institutions

Abstract

This book is based on the papers and comments presented at the conference on "Labour Market Institutions and Employment", in Helsinki, November 24-25, 2000. The goal of the conference was to evaluate the potential role of labour market institutions in explaining high average European unemployment. The role of unemployment benefit systems and labour taxation are surveyed both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. The book also provides a summary of the impacts of active labour market policies in Sweden and an analysis of the employment effects of labour market training in Finland. The European Council meeting, held in March 2000 in Lisbon, set out the objectives for strengthening employment in the EU member states during the coming decade. This book contains an evaluation of whether or not this target is viable and, if it is, what it will require in terms of policy reforms. Given the background of a rising trend in average European unemployment over the last 25 years, some countries - such as the Netherlands and Denmark - have, more recently, experienced falling unemployment. The role of the labour market reforms in these developments is also considered in this publication.