Estudio donde se examinan las razones para la gran persistencia e incremento del desempleo en España a partir de los primeros años de la década de los setenta, centrándose particularmente en la flexibilidad como principal razón para la ineficacia del mercado laboral.

Discusses five major topics: the meaning of the term "flexibility", the various forms which it takes in practice, its short-and long-term implications, the diverse forms it may assume in different national contexts, and finally its effectiveness as an instrument of economic and employment policy

Since the mid-1980s, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has carried out a number of studies on the issues of labor market flexibility under the supervision of the Manpower and Social Affairs Committee and its Working Party on Industrial Relations. While much of the previous work focused on the external forms of labor market flexibility, this volume's major focus is on trends in labor flexibility at the enterprise level. The volume consists of three separate articles that present detailed information on the current state of internal labor market flexibility and worker participation in OECD member countries (Sweden, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom). The titles of the articles are: "Labour Flexibility in Enterprises: A Comparison of Firms in Four European Countries" (Bernard Brunhes); "National Experiences in Labor Market Flexibility" (Jacques Rojot); and "Worker Participation in Technological Change" (Wolfram Wassermann). (DB)

How have modern labour markets developed? Both labour economists and economic historians agree that it is necessary to look at labour markets in their historical context. Labour Market Evolution does just this. The contributors examine the operation and development of labour markets in Western Europe and North America since 1500. They address the key questions in this complicated process using new quantitative evidence. First, how closely connected were geographically distant labour markets? Second, how flexible were markets in the past - did wages change in response to demand shocks? Did workers move across space and occupations in response to cyclical or seasonal conditions. Third, were relationships between employees and employers short-term or long-term? Why did relationships change, and what were the implications for the flexibility and integration of markets? In examining these factors, this volume draws on modern labour economic theory and up-to-date quantitative techniques to show how current traditions and systems have evolved.

This book sheds light on new research related to welfare state, child care policies, and small children's everyday lives in institutions in Europe. In uniting recent social childhood research, welfare perspectives and historical and comparative approaches, the book explores institutionalization as a feature of the modern child's life.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between labor market flexibility and unemployment outcomes. Using a panel of 97 countries from 1985 to 2008, the results of the paper suggest that improvements in labor market flexibility have a statistically and significant negative impact on unemployment outcomes (over unemployment, youth unemployment and long-term unemployment). Among the different labor market flexibility indicators analyzed, hiring and firing regulations and hiring costs are found to have the strongest effect.

Report on four issues raised by the current debate on labour market flexibility: labour costs, external and internal labour market mobility, and concealed employment. Examines the argument that high labour costs and wage inflexibility have priced workers out of the labour market, concluding that while wages are important in explaining unemployment, other factors are also significant. Discusses external labour market mobility (job mobility, geographic mobility and occupational change) as a means of adjusting to structural change, but finds that the link between mobility trends and labour market efficiency is difficult to ascertain. Looks at enterprise level flexibility, covering numerical and functional flexibility of the work force, and, finally, considers the phenomenon of concealed employment as a perverse form of labour market flexibility.

This book provides a new indicator for benchmarking labour-market policy, reviewing the flexibility available in its management throughout OECD countries.