The ins and outs of European unemployment

Barbara Petrongolo and Christopher Pissarides

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: In this paper we study the contribution of inflows and outflows to the dynamics of unemployment in three European countries, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. We compare performance in these three countries making use of both administrative and labor force survey data. We find that the impact of the 1980s reforms in Britain is evident in the contributions of the inflow and outflow rates. The inflow rate became a bigger contributor after the mid 1980s, although its significance subsided again in the late 1990s and 2000s. In France the dynamics of unemployment are driven virtually entirely by the outflow rate, which is consistent with a regime with strict employment protection legislation. In Spain, however, both rates contribute significantly to the dynamics, very likely as a consequence of the prominence of fixed-term contracts since the late 1980s.

Keywords: [1] Allard; Gayle. 2005. “Measuring Job Security Over Time: In Search of a Historical Indicator”; Instituto de Empressa Working Paper WP-05. (Available from http://www.ie.edu/eng/claustro/claustro_working_papers.asp?ano=2005&tipo=1) [2] Elsby; Michael; Ryan Michaels and Gary Solon. 2007. “The Ins and Outs of Cyclical Unemployment”; mimeo; University of Michigan. [3] Fujita; Shigeru and Garey Ramey. 2007. “The Cyclicality of Separation and Job Finding Rates”; Working Paper no. 07-19; Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Forthcoming in the International Economic Review. [4] Gomes; Pedro. 2007. “Labour Market Flows in the United Kingdom”; Discussion Paper; Bank of England; forthcoming. [5] Pissarides; Christopher A. 1986. “Unemployment and Vacancies in Britain”; Economic Policy vol. 3; 499-559. [6] Shimer; Robert. 2007. “Reassessing the Ins and Outs of Unemployment”; University of Chicago. [7] Yashiv; Eran. 2006. “US Labor Market Dynamics Revisited”; IZA Discussion Paper no. 2445; IZA; Bonn. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 E32 J6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2008-02
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (164)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Ins and Outs of European Unemployment (2008)
Working Paper: The Ins and Outs of European Unemployment (2008)
Working Paper: The Ins and Outs of European Unemployment (2008)
Working Paper: The ins and outs of European unemployment (2008)
Working Paper: The Ins and Outs of European Unemployment (2008)
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