Job Stability and Security in European Labor Markets

Place: IZA, Bonn
Date: Friday/Saturday, March 8-9, 2002
Organizers: David A. Jaeger and Thomas Bauer

Labor market rigidities have often been cited as one of the main reasons for the high unemployment in Europe relative to the United States. In recent years several European countries introduced measures to increase labor market flexibility. The effects of these measures on job stability and security are largely unexplored.

This conference seeks to fill this gap by bringing together researchers working on these issues. A central goal of the conference is to make cross-country comparisons of job stability and security, with an eye towards institutional, political, and labor market differences across European countries. Papers examining the effects of changes in contracting laws, increased unification of European labor markets, or international migration on job stability and job security are particularly welcome, as are papers that employ new or under-exploited data sets or innovative econometric methods.

Friday, March 8
13:45 - 14:00	David Jaeger (College of William and Mary and IZA): Welcome and Opening Remarks
14:00 - 15:30	Michèle Belot (University of Tilburg): Why is Employment Protection Stricter in Europe than in the US? Tito Boeri (Bocconi University and IZA) and Michael Burda (Humboldt University and IZA): Preferences for Rigid Wages and Job Protection in Equilibrium Unemployment?
15:30 - 16:00	Coffee
16:00 - 17:30	Oliver L'Haridon (GRID and University of Paris) and Franck Malherbet (CREST and University of Paris): Unemployment Compensation Finance and Aggregate Employment Fluctuations Tito Boeri (Bocconi University and IZA), Ignacio Conde-Ruiz (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Vincenzo Galasso (Universidad Carlos III): Protecting Against Labour Market Risk: Firing Costs or Unemployment Insurance?
17:30 - 17:45	Break
17:45 - 18:30	Hartmut Lehmann (Heriot-Watt University and IZA), Kaja Philipps (Tartu University) and Jonathan Wadsworth (London School of Economics and IZA): The Incidence and Cost of Job Loss in Transition: Comparing the Two Fast Reformers Estonia and Eastern Germany
19:30	Dinner at Ristorante La Grappa, Thomas-Mann-Str. 24
Saturday, March 9
09:45 - 10:30	J. Ignacio Garcia Pérez (centrA) and Fernando Munoz-Bullón (Universidad Carlos III): "The Nineties in Spain: So much Flexibility in the Labor Market?"
10:30 - 11:00	Coffee
11:00 - 12:30	Paulin Givord (INSEE) and Eric Maurin (CREST-INSEE): Changes in Job Stability and their Causes: An Empirical Analysis Method Applied to France, 1982-2000 J. Ignacio Garcia Pérez (centrA) and Fernando Munoz-Bullón (Universidad Carlos III): The Nineties in Spain: So much Flexibility in the Labor Market? Christoph M. Schmidt (University of Heidelberg and IZA): Job Stability in a Heterogeneous Labor Market
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch
13:30 - 15:00	Karsten Albaek (University of Copenhagen): Job Flows and the Evolution of Job Stability When Employment Protection is Low Anders Frederiksen (Aarhus School of Business and IZA) and Niels Westergard-Nielsen (Aarhus School of Business and IZA) Where Did They Go?
15:00 - 15:30	Coffee
15:30 - 16:00	David Neumark (Michigan State University) and David Jaeger (College of William and Mary and IZA): Closing Remarks
16:30	Excursion
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Travel expenses and accommodations will be covered according to IZA reimbursement guidelines.

David A. Jaeger (djaeger@wm.edu) Department of Economics College of William and Mary P.O. Box 8795 Williamsburg, VA 23185-8795 USA

Thomas Bauer (bauer@iza.org) IZA P.O. Box 7240 D-53072 Bonn Germany