The distributional impact of labour market reforms: A model-based assessment

Werner Roeger, Janos Varga, Jan in 't Veld and Lukas Vogel

European Economic Review, 2021, vol. 131, issue C

Abstract: This paper studies the effects of labour market reforms on the functional distribution of income in a DSGE model (Roeger et al., 2008) with skill differentiation, in which households supply three types of labour: low-, medium- and high-skilled. The households receive income from labour, tangible capital, intangible capital, financial wealth, and transfers. We trace how structural reforms in the labour market affect these different types of income. The quantification of labour market reforms is based on changes in structural indicators that significantly reduce the gap of the EU average income towards the best-performing EU countries. We find a general trade-off between an increase in employment for a particular group and the income of the average group member relative to income per capita. Reforms, which aim at increasing employment of low- and medium-skilled workers, are associated with a fall in low- and medium-skilled wages relative to income per capita. Capital owners generally benefit from labour market reforms, with an increasing share of profits in total income that can be attributed to limited entry into the final goods production sector.

Keywords: Labour market reforms; Dynamic general equilibrium modelling; Income distribution; Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E10 E20 J20 O30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: The Distributional Impact of Labour Market Reforms: A Model-Based Assessment (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:131:y:2021:i:c:s0014292120302683

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103638

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