The prospects for labour supply in Europe are considered. The analysis begins with a so-called labour market balance covering the development on an aggregate level. Estimations to shed light on the relation between unemployment and labour force participation are given in the second part of the...

Rising wage inequality in the U.S. and Britain (especially in the 1980s) and rising continental European unemployment (with rather stable wage inequality) have led to a popular view in the economics profession that these two phenomena are related to negative relative demand shocks against the...