What helps or hinders labour market adjustments in Europe?

Call for papers - deadline: 16 February 2004
A CEPR/ECB workshop
Frankfurt am Main, Eurotower, 28-29 June 2004

The adjustment of employment and wages in response to macroeconomic shocks and changes in the economic environment are fundamental to the functioning of the European economy. Examples of labour market adjustments include worker flows within and between labour market states, sectors and regions, and the response of wages to different labour market conditions. Labour market institutions are important determinants of this adjustment. Institutions that seemed to perform well in the 1960s and 1970s are now commonly blamed for causing rigidities and inefficiencies, which limit labour market adjustment.

The aim of the joint ECB and Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) workshop, to be held in Frankfurt on 28-29 June 2004, is to provide a forum for the discussion of recent work on these issues and an assessment of policy implications.

The workshop organisers are particularly interested in contributions addressing at least one of the following dimensions of labour market adjustment:

A. Institutions and labour market adjustments

Contributions that examine how labour and product market institutions affect labour market adjustments. For instance:

• How does employment protection affect adjustment? What are the effects of the use of different types of contracts (e.g. fixed-term vs. permanent) on the adjustment process?
• How do active/passive labour market policies help/hinder the re-employment of unemployed workers? How do they affect unemployment duration?
• Do product market institutions affect the creation and destruction of jobs?
• What is the impact of wage-setting institutions and wage adjustments on job creation and destruction?
• How do labour-market institutions affect the sensitivity of employment and output to macroeconomic shocks, domestic or international?

In addition, the organisers are interested in papers that examine the effects of institutional reforms on the adjustment process.

B. Regional aspects of labour market adjustment

Contributions that examine regional aspects of labour-market adjustment, including the impact of institutions mentioned in A. Additional topics could include for instance: What determines mobility of workers and jobs across regions? How do labour markets adjust following regional shocks? Do wage adjustments facilitate an efficient allocation of resources across regions? How does adjustment at the regional level influence developments at the national and area wide level? How do regional differences in labour market adjustment affect monetary policy?

C. Sectoral aspects of labour market adjustment

Contributions that examine sectoral aspects of labour market adjustment, including the impact of institutions mentioned in A. Additional topics could include for instance: What factors determine reallocation of labour between declining and expanding industries? Do structural reforms influence sectoral adjustments? Do labour market fluctuations differ across sectors over the business cycle?

Contributions relating to the European Union or EU acceding countries will receive a higher consideration. Papers will be chosen by a Selection Committee consisting of Julian Messina (ECB), Claudio Michelacci (CEMFI and CEPR), Jarkko Turunen (ECB) and Gylfi Zoega (Birkbeck College and CEPR).

We invite individuals wishing to submit original contributions for consideration to send either a 2-3 page summary, or a draft paper, to us by Monday 16 February 2004. The summary/draft papers should contain information about the question addressed in the paper, the theoretical and policy problems that motivate the question, the method(s), and (if appropriate) data used.

Submissions can be made by e-mail and sent, preferably in PDF format, to Janet Seabrook at CEPR (by email at JSeabrook@cepr.org ). Authors of the papers selected for presentations by the Selection Committee will be notified by Wednesday 31 March 2004.

The chosen papers will be available on the   CEPR website around the time of the workshop and some of the authors may subsequently be invited to submit their papers to a published volume. Presenters will be reimbursed for a return journey to the workshop and for accommodation, in accordance with ECB standard guidelines. back to top