Building an effective financial stability policy framework: lessons from the post-crisis decade

A decade after the global financial crisis, the task of building a financial stability policy framework has unfinished business. Fundamental questions about the goal of financial stability and the policies to achieve it were sidelined by the excessive focus on the minutiae of macroprudential policy. Increased responsibilities were given to central banks without a proper discussion about the right degree of delegation and accountability. A comprehensive framework for financial stability should have three pillars: macroprudential policy, microprudential supervision, and financial safety nets. Sufficient operational independence should be given to the agency(ies) responsible for financial stability but determining the goal, institutional architecture, and agency assignments, resolving any policy tradeoffs, and ensuring accountability should be a political responsibility. Even with the best framework, however, given the variety of structural, behavioral, and political economy factors affecting financial stability and our limited understanding of the financial system, securing this goal will remain a challenge

The G20 has been criticised for its pandemic response. is that fair?

The G20 has been criticised for a sluggish and inadequate response to the pandemic – in contrast to its efforts following the financial crisis. Dimitri Demekas (LSE) says the comparison is misleading. Less ambitious rhetoric and more pragmatic goals would serve the G20 and the global community better. Global shock, fragmented response The COVID-19 pandemic ... Continue

Equilibria with Unemployment in Segmented Labor Markets

The paper proves four theorems in an n-sector model of a segmented labor market, with search costs, and a continuum of workers with different reservation wages, who can apply to any number of sectors. The main conclusions are that: (i) an equilibrium with unemployment always exists; and (ii) some of the unemployment is involuntary, in the sense that it consists of workers with reservation wages below the equilibrium wage in the secondary market. These conclusions hold in the case of both separate and non-separate markets.

Labor Market Institutions and Flexibility in Italy

The paper surveys three broad categories of labor market institutions in Italy: employment protection legislation, unemployment benefit systems, and wage bargaining arrangements. In each case, the recent evolution and current state of Italian institutions are evaluated and compared with those in other major European countries.

Labor Market Segmentation in a Two-Sector Model of an Open Economy

The effects of labor market segmentation in a two-sector open economy model are examined. The model demonstrates how the structure of the labor market affects the real exchange rate, and is then used to examine the effects of two common labor market policies: increasing the degree of primary market coverage, and implementing wage restraint in the primary market. Increasing coverage increases unemployment and leads to a real appreciation. Real wage restraint, however, reduces unemployment and has ambiguous but probably small effects on the real exchange rate.

Labor Market Segmentation in a Two-Sector Model of An Open Economy

The paper examines formally the effects of labor market segmentation in a two-sector open economy model. The model demonstrates how the structure of the labor market affects the real exchange rate, defined as the relative price of traded and home goods, and is then used to examine the effects of two common labor market policies: increasing the degree of primary market coverage, and implementing wage restraint in the primary market. It is shown that increasing the degree of primary market coverage increases unemployment and leads to a real appreciation. Real wage restraint in the primary market, on the other hand, reduces unemployment, and has ambiguous but probably small effects on the real exchange rate.

Government Employment and Wages and Labor Market Performance

Government wage, benefit, and employment decisions are not taken on a profit-maximizing basis and have a substantial impact on aggregate labor market performance and unemployment. In a two-sector labor market model with free mobility of labor, an increase in government wages or benefits reduces private sector employment, and government employment is not an effective counter-cyclical instrument. Empirical tests for Greece confirm that the expansion of the public sector in the 1980s contributed to the deterioration of labor market performance.

Unemployment in Greece: A Survey of the Issues

Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in 2020

Unemployment in Greece

The Greek unemployment rate rose from 2 percent in the 1960s to 9-10 percent in the 1990s. This reflected the increase in female participation rates, the slowdown in growth, the restructuring of production, and the increased mismatch between jobs and job seekers. But the most crucial factor was the persistence of real wage aspirations. The paper develops and tests a model that attributes this to the rapid expansion in the number of easy, life-time government jobs and the increase in the public/private wage differential during the 1980s.