hypotheses concerning the slow employment growth and rise in unemployment since 1990 are evaluated. The analysis indicates that a … large part of the recent rise in the unemployment rate may reflect an increase in the structural rather than the cyclical … component of unemployment. Various sources of labor market rigidities that may have contributed to the increase in structural …

The paper examines the employment and unemployment implications of permitting unemployed people to use part of their … unemployment benefits to provide employment vouchers to the firms that hire them. This opportunity to transfer unemployment … benefits into employment subsidies--“benefit transfers” for short--would help replace the unemployment trap by an incentive to …

impact on unemployment in the short term, but that this effect rapidly disappears in the medium term in countries with … with more rigid labor market institutions. These effects are even larger for youth unemployment in the short term and long …-term unemployment in the medium term. Conversely, large upfront, or gradual but significant, comprehensive labor market policies have a …

detrimental medium-term effects on output, unemployment, poverty, and inequality. However, policies can go a long way toward … relatively greater fiscal support. The increases in unemployment, poverty, and inequality are likewise lower for countries with …