Social contacts help to find jobs, but not necessarily in the occupations where workers are most productive. Hence social contacts can generate mismatch between workers' occupational choices and their productive advantage. Accordingly, social networks can lead to low labour force quality, low...

Job security provisions are frequently cited as inhibiting the functioning of labour markets in Europe. However, as with many forms of non-price regulation, it is difficult to assess how tightly these regulations bind and influence labour market outcomes. We use an industry-country panel of OECD...