Labour market dynamics in OECD countries

Abstract

The title accurately reflects the subject matter of the paper and we come to the following conclusions. First, we note that well documented difficulties in hiring faced by firms in the tight labour market of a boom provides a perfectly satisfactory explanation of both asymmetric employment cycles and countercyclical job reallocation. Second, employment adjustment costs are significantly inversely correlated with the speed of labour demand adjustment across the OECD economies. Third, the degree of hysteresis in the wage equation is positively related to long-term unemployment and negatively related to the proportion of small firms in the economy (where insider power is lower). The long-term unemployment rate is strongly related to the duration of benefits. Finally, related to employment adjustment costs, benefit durations and negatively related coordination in wage bargaining