abstract: 'I review theories and evidence on wage-setting institutions and labor

  market policies in an international comparative context. These include

  collective bargaining, minimum wages, employment protection laws,

  unemployment insurance (UI), mandated parental leave, and active labor

  market policies (ALMPs). Since it is unlikely that an unregulated

  private sector would provide the income insurance these institutions do,

  these policies may enhance economic efficiency. However, to the extent

  that unemployment or resource misallocation results from such measures,

  these efficiency gains may be offset. Overall, Scandinavia and Central

  Europe follow distinctively more interventionist policies than the

  English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Possible

  explanations for such differences include vulnerability to external

  market forces and ethnic homogeneity. I then review evidence on the

  impacts of these policies and institutions. While the interventionist

  model appears to cause lower levels of wage inequality and high levels

  of job security to incumbent workers, it also in some cases leads to the

  relegation of new entrants (disproportionately women, youth, and

  immigrants) as well as the less skilled to temporary jobs or

  unemployment. Making labor markets more flexible could bring these

  groups into the regular labor market to a greater extent, at the expense

  of higher levels of economic insecurity for incumbents and higher levels

  of wage inequality. (C) 2011 by the Association for Public Policy

  Analysis and Management.'
affiliation: 'Kahn, LM (Corresponding Author), Cornell Univ, 258 Ives Hall, Ithaca,
  NY 14583 USA.

  Cornell Univ, Ithaca, NY 14583 USA.'
author: Kahn, Lawrence M.
author_list:
- family: Kahn
  given: Lawrence M.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1002/pam.20602
files: []
issn: 0276-8739
journal: JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT
keywords-plus: 'EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION; UNEMPLOYMENT-INSURANCE; WAGE INEQUALITY;

  MINIMUM-WAGES; UNITED-STATES; INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENCES; YOUTH

  EMPLOYMENT; IMPACT; INSTITUTIONS; REFORM'
language: English
month: WIN
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '73'
pages: 94-110
papis_id: b885d8f9032eef1b5f32ae09ac7863b7
ref: Kahn2012labormarket
researcherid-numbers: Kahn, Lawrence/AAP-6684-2021
times-cited: '41'
title: 'Labor market policy: A comparative view on the costs and benefits of labor
  market flexibility'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000298094900007
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '104'
volume: '31'
web-of-science-categories: Economics; Public Administration
year: '2012'