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...

The current economic crisis in Argentina is only partly the result of inappropriate domestic policies to cope with the recent external shocks. Years of inappropriate policies have damaged Argentina's economy. Even if no external shocks had occurred, the country would still have to change the...

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 estimates export supply elasticities in 20 countries using an empirical model in which manufactured exports are a function of the price of exports, the price of imported inputs, and labor costs relative to the price of home goods. The export supply equation is completed with a...

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...

Discusses the short – and long-term labour market policies needed in Czechoslovakia to achieve successfully the economic reforms envisaged in the current economic programme. Given the similarities with other Eastern European countries in economic transition, the policy implications of this...

Discusses the short – and long‐term labour market policies eeded in Czechoslovakia to achieve successfully the economic reforms envisaged in the current economic programme. Given the similarities with other Eastern European countries in economic transition, the policy implications of this...