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IZA Employment Seminar: More and Better Jobs or More Inequality? Key European Employment Issues

Organizers: Werner Eichhorst (IZA), Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University)
Location:Brussels
Date:November 27, 2008 - November 28, 2008

Event Manager:

Elke Henn (IZA)

Report

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, IZA held this high-level Employment Seminar in Brussels. This initiative was taken to strengthen the links between IZA with its European partners and international institutions as well as stimulate the dialogue between research and policy making in Europe. The topic of the seminar, organized by IZA Director Klaus F. Zimmermann and IZA Deputy Director of Labor Policy Werner Eichhorst and co-funded by the German Thyssen Foundation, was the relation between labor market performance and distributional outcomes against the background of the EU’s Lisbon Strategy. It brought together about 40 academic and policy-oriented participants from EU Member States, European institutions and other international organizations.

A major conclusion of the seminar was the observation that in a dynamic and volatile economic environment rising inequality is not inevitable, but countries continue to exhibit considerably different levels of inequality. In particular some Nordic countries such as Denmark, Sweden, but also the Netherlands were found to combine high levels of economic efficiency, i.e. high employment, and equity in terms of low income inequality and poverty. Comparative analysis shows that labor market and welfare state institutions shape the relation between job creation and social cohesion, but that interactions between policies and the economic environment change over time. Hence, there is a role for well-designed public policies that generate both more and better jobs. Activation policies should not only lead to quick labor market entry, but help stabilize labor market attachment and upward mobility. More equal access to education and a more egalitarian approach to lifelong learning can be seen as a core element of a policy package to achieve employability for all. Easing transitions between different jobs by way of removing barriers in accordance with flexicurity policies can contribute to overcoming the frequently assumed tradeoff between more and better jobs. A core issue, the seminar emphasized, in this respect is the efficient delivery of public services in activation, education and continuous training. The EU can facilitate national reforms by setting targets and stimulating exchange between the Member States.

The first IZA Employment Seminar will be followed up by regular European workshops on topics that are relevant in the European context and by the creation of an international network of labor policy experts.

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Program

Thursday, November 27:

        Analysing the Issue and Possible Explanations
 
15:00 - 15:20   Welcome by Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University)
 
15:20 - 16:00   Werner Eichhorst (IZA)
  "The challenge: Job Growth, but also More Inequality in the Labour Market - Some Facts from European Countries"
 
16:00 - 16:40   Raymond Torres (ILO International Labour Organisation)
  "Do globalization and technological change drive inequality? Empirical Evidence"
 
16:40 - 17:20   Pierre Cahuc (Ecole Polytechnique)
  "-- to be announced --"
 
17:20 - 17:30   Coffee break
 
17:30 - 18:10   Torben M. Andersen (University of Aarhus)
  "The impact of activation of the un/non-employed"
 
18:10 - 18:50   Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University)
"Migration and the labour market - More Inequality?" [Paper 1] [Paper 2]
 
18:50       Time for informal interaction
 
19:40       Drinks/ Dinner Reception
 
20:00       Dinner
 
        Including Dinner Speech Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University)

"10 Years of IZA - Past and Perspectives ..."
 

Friday, November 28:

        The Role of Public Policies
 
09:00 - 09:30   Daniel Gros (Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS))
  "Keynote: The European agenda/Lisbon strategy: More and Better Jobs?"
 
        Moderator of the panels: Bob Gregory (Australian National University)
 
09:30 - 11:00   Topic I: The Future of Activation - Towards more Sustainable Employment

Daniel Finn (University of Portsmouth)

Paolo Sestito (Bank of Italy)

Thomas Molsted Jorgensen (Danish National Directorate of Labour)

Robert Strauss (European Commission)
 
11:00       Coffee Break
 
11:15 - 12:45   Topic II: Better and more Egalitarian Education and Training - How to move from Rhetoric to Action?

John P. Martin (OECD and IZA)

Niels Ploug (SFI - Danish National Centre for Social Research)

Jules Theeuwes (SEO Economic Research)

Lucie Davoine (European Commission)
 
12:45       Lunch
 
13:45 - 15:15   Topic III: Redesigning Labour Market Institutions - Overcoming Segmentation through Flexicurity?

Peter Auer (ILO - International Labour Organisation)

Tito Boeri (Bocconi University and IZA)

Wiemer Salverda (University of Amsterdam)

Alfonso Arpaia (European Commission)
 
15:15 - 15:30   Coffee break
 
15:30 - 16:45   Policy Conclusions: EU Level and Member States

André Sapir (Free University of Brussels)

Nikolaus van der Pas (European Commission)

Janine Leschke (ETUI REHS - European Trade Union Institute for Research, Education and Health and Safety)

John Hurley (Eurofound - European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions)
 
16:45       Outlook and Farewell

Conclusions from analytical and policy perspective

Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University) / Werner Eichhorst (IZA)