Cross‐Country Evidence on Labor Market Institutions and Young Adult Employment through the Financial Crisis.

I develop and analyze a set of cross‐country facts regarding employment and wage setting institutions over the decade surrounding the 2008 financial crisis. Among long‐industrialized countries, young adult employment declined more than prime age employment over this time period. I show that differen...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Southern Economic Journal Vol. 86; no. 2; pp. 573 - 613
Autor principal: Clemens, Jeffrey
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Oct2019
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:I develop and analyze a set of cross‐country facts regarding employment and wage setting institutions over the decade surrounding the 2008 financial crisis. Among long‐industrialized countries, young adult employment declined more than prime age employment over this time period. I show that differences in countries' wage setting institutions strongly predict variations in the magnitude of declines in young adult employment. Both unconditionally and conditional on changes in macroeconomic conditions, young adult employment declined 5 percentage points less in countries where wage setting is driven by collective bargaining arrangements than in countries with statutory wage floors. Evidence on the evolution of legislated minimum wage rates and of an asymmetry in the relationship between growth and young adult employment suggest an important role for a standard "wage rigidity" mechanism.