Labour Market Institutions Without Blinders: The Debate over Flexibility and Labour Market Performance

Richard B. Freeman

NBER Working Paper No. 11286
Issued in May 2005
NBER Program(s):   LS

The debate over the influence of labour market flexibility on performance is unlikely to be settled by additional studies using aggregate data and making cross-country comparisons. While this approach holds little promise, micro-analysis of workers and firms and increased use of experimental methods represent a path forward. Steps along this path could help end the current 'lawyer's case' empiricism in which priors dominate evidence.

(205 K)

Published: Richard Freeman, 2005. "Labour market institutions without blinders: The debate over flexibility and labour market performance," International Economic Journal, Korean International Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 129-145, June.

This paper is available as PDF (205 K) or via email.

Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX