Youth Unemployment in Old Europe: The Polar Cases of France and Germany

Pierre Cahuc, Stéphane Carcillo (), Ulf Rinne and Klaus Zimmermann ()

No 7490, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: France and Germany are two polar cases in the European debate about rising youth unemployment. Similar to what can be observed in Southern European countries, a "lost generation" may arise in France. In stark contrast, youth unemployment has been on continuous decline in Germany for many years, hardly affected by the Great Recession. This paper analyzes the diametrically opposed developments in the two countries to derive policy lessons. As the fundamental differences in youth unemployment are primarily resulting from structural differences in labor policy and in the (vocational) education system, any short-term oriented policies can only have temporary effects. Ultimately, the youth unemployment disease in France and in other European countries has to be cured with structural reforms.

Keywords: labor market institutions; employment protection; Great Recession; youth unemployment; minimum wages; demographic trends; labor policy; vocational education and training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J38 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2013-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-eec, nep-eur, nep-lab and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (50)

Published - revised version published in: IZA Journal of European Labor Studies , 2013, 2:18

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Related works:
Journal Article: Youth unemployment in old Europe: the polar cases of France and Germany (2013)
Working Paper: Youth Unemployment in Old Europe: The Polar Cases of France and Germany (2013)
Working Paper: Youth Unemployment in Old Europe: The Polar Cases of France and Germany (2013)
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