, leading in turn to higher, not lower, unemployment. And, even if unemployment comes down, workers may actually be worse off …, going through many spells of unemployment and fixed duration jobs, before obtaining a regular job. Looking at French data … substantial reduction in unemployment duration. If anything, their effect on welfare of young workers appears to have been …

Two key facts about European unemployment must be explained: the rise in unemployment since the 1960s, and the … heterogeneity of individual country experiences. While adverse shocks can potentially explain much of the rise in unemployment … institutions pre-date the rise in unemployment. Based on a panel of institutions and shocks for 20 OECD nations since 1960, we find …