The financial crisis drew attention to the way in which workers in certain countries had been able to sustain consumption through housing and consumer credit despite insecure labour-market positions. This indicates a need to expand the analysis of the relationship between flexibility and...

In the first part of this project the Labor Code (LC) in Panama was analyzed with respect to its impact on the demand for labor. This entailed firms (i.e., employers) being surveyed in connection with their views about the implications of the LC. Specifically they were requested to respond to...

How does enforcement of labor regulations shape the labor market effects of trade? Does the informal sector introduce greater de facto flexibility, reducing employment losses during bad times? To tackle these questions, we exploit local economic shocks generated by trade liberalization and...