Research Catalog

Social protection versus economic flexibility : is there a trade-off?

Title: Social protection versus economic flexibility : is there a trade-off? / edited by Rebecca M. Blank.
Publication: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1994.

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Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	HD7090 .S578 1994	Off-site

Additional Authors

Blank, Rebecca M.

Description

ix, 376 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

Do social protection programs limit the ability of the labor market to adjust to fast-growing segments of the economy, and thus inevitably lead to a decrease in economic growth? This volume compares how such programs as social security, income transfers, and job protection laws in Western Europe, the United States, and Japan have affected labor market flexibility.
Does tying health insurance to employment limit job mobility? Do certain housing policies inhibit workers from moving to new jobs in different areas? What are the effects of daycare and maternity leave policies on working mothers? The authors explore these and many other questions in an effort to understand why European unemployment rates are so high compared with the U.S. rate.
By examining diverse data sets across different countries, the authors find that while social protection programs do change economic behavior, there is little evidence that they create inflexibility with regard to economic adjustment.
To achieve useful comparisons among diverse nations, the authors employ "difference-in-difference" estimators, through which economic changes in a country that has undergone policy changes can be compared to economic changes in a country in which policy has remained constant. An in-depth look at the impact of various welfare programs on labor market change, this book demonstrates how social protection policies have affected employment around the globe.

Series Statement

NBER Comparative labor markets series

Uniform Title

NBER Comparative labor markets series.

Subjects

Note

"These papers were first presented at a conference held at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics"--Pref.

Bibliography (note)

Contents

Introduction / Rebecca M. Blank -- 1. Evaluating the Connection between Social Protection and Economic Flexibility / Rebecca M. Blank and Richard B. Freeman -- 2. Trends in Social Protection Programs and Expenditures in the 1980s / Peter Scherer -- 3. Does Employment Protection Inhibit Labor Market Flexibility? Lessons from Germany, France, and Belgium / Katharine G. Abraham and Susan N. Houseman -- 4. Patterns in Regional Labor Market Adjustment: The United States versus Japan / Edward B. Montgomery -- 5. Housing Market Regulations and Housing Market Performance in the United States, Germany, and Japan / Axel Borsch-Supan -- 6. Health Insurance Provision and Labor Market Efficiency in the United States and Germany / Douglas Holtz-Eakin -- 7. Social Security and Older Workers' Labor Market Responsiveness: The United States, Japan, and Sweden / Marcus E. Rebick -- 8. Public Sector Growth and Labor Market Flexibility: The United States versus the United Kingdom / Rebecca M. Blank.
9. Does Public Health Insurance Reduce Labor Market Flexibility or Encourage the Underground Economy? Evidence from Spain and the United States / Sara de la Rica and Thomas Lemieux -- 10. Social Welfare Programs for Women and Children: The United States versus France / Maria J. Hanratty -- 11. Three Regimes of Child Care: The United States, the Netherlands, and Sweden / Siv Gustafsson and Frank P. Stafford.

ISBN

0226056783 (cloth)

LCCN

94005186

OCLC

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries