The Italian Labor Market: Recent Trends, Institutions, and Reform Options

Martin Schindler

No 2009/047, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: Despite improvements in labor market performance over the past decade, owing in part to past reforms, Italy's employment and productivity outcomes continue to lag behind those of its European peers. This paper reviews Italy's institutional landscape and labor market trends from a cross-country perspective, and discusses possible avenues for further reform. The policy discussion draws on international reform experience and on simulations based on a calibrated labor market matching model. A key lesson is that the details of reform design, and the sequencing of reforms, matter greatly for labor market outcomes and for the fiscal costs associated with these reforms.

Keywords: WP; labor market; product market; wage; Labor markets; product markets; regulations; fiscal policy; Italy; matching model; product market regulation; labor market outcome; product market deregulation; reform measure; reform benefit; Labor market reforms; Employment; Commodity markets; Wages; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24
Date: 2009-03-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

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