Labor market institutions, the insider/outsider divide and social inequalities in employment in affluent countries

Thomas Biegert

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

Abstract: This article investigates the role of labor market institutions for social inequalities in employment. To distinguish institutional impacts for men and women, age groups and educational levels the analysis draws on data from 21 countries using the European Union Labor Force Survey and the Current Population Survey 1992–2012. The analysis demonstrates that there is significant heterogeneity in the relationship between institutions and employment across social groups. In line with the literature on dualization, institutions that arguably protect labor market insiders, i.e. employment protection, unionization and unemployment benefits, are frequently associated with greater inequality between typically disadvantaged groups and their insider peers. By contrast, institutions that discriminate less between insiders and outsiders, i.e. active labor market policies, minimum income benefits and centralized wage bargaining at times boost social equality on the labor market. The insider/outsider argument provides a valuable heuristic for assessing heterogeneity in institutional impacts, yet in several instances the results deviate from the expectations.

Keywords: employment; inequality; labor market institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 J6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-08-17
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Socio-Economic Review, 17, August, 2017. ISSN: 1475-1461

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