The objectives of this paper are : (i) to empirically probe on the validity of the hypothesis that wages are relatively unresponsive to labor market disequlibrium; and (ii) to investigate whether the dramatically diverse rates of unemployment observed across certain Latin American countries obey...

The ratio of nonwage labor costs (for social security, pensions, vacation days, severence compensation, and the like) to direct wage costs is proportionately higher in Europe and Latin America than in Asia and Africa - largely because workers there are protected more by regulations. The...

Czechoslovakia (CSFR) faces marked challenges for successfully accomplishing its transition to a market economy. In recent years the economy was characterized by a good deal of internal and external equilibrium, making possible the current market oriented reforms without the complications which...

In the 1970s, Chile underwent profound structural changes in market regulation, public sector policies, and foreign trade. These changes produced notable economic strain and high open unemployment. After the financial crisis of the 1980s the Chilean economy adjusted successfully and resumed...

Implicit in standard macroeconomics of adjustment is the assumption of well-integrated labor markets that are responsive to relative prices. But segmentation of the labor market is usually said to be an important source of labor market rigidities. In particular, if segmentation involves...

This paper undertakes a statistical analysis of the effect of minimum wages (MWs) on different population groups. The underlying question for this analysis relates to the probability bias exerted by certain protective government regulations in terms of the unemployment prospects of specific...