In order to alleviate unemployment it is often recommended to reduce social security contributions (SSC) and to … compensate for the ensuing loss in revenues by a rise in the value-added tax (VAT). Assuming unemployment to be caused by … neutralised, for example, by imposing a constant wedge, the employment impact will depend on the nature of the unemployment …

The analysis provides a new explanation for two widespread problems concerning European unemployment policy: the … disappointingly small effect of many past reform measures on unemployment, and the political difficulties in implementing more … implement broad-based reform strategies. Our analysis suggests that major unemployment policies are characterised by economic …

real wages and low unemployment result. With an intermediate view, i.e. when partial equilibrium effects within a sector … are taken into account, high real wages and unemployment result. If all general equilibrium effects are considered at once …, low real wages and low unemployment again result. The assumption that unions and employers' federations are not able to …