Labor Adjustment Under Different Institutional Structures
Katharine G. Abraham and Susan N. Houseman ,
Institutional Frameworks and Labor Market Performance, ed. by Friedrich Buttler, Wolfgang Franz, Ronald Schettkat, and David Soskice, Routeledge
285-315
January
1995
Abstract

Like most Western European countries, Germany stringently regulates dismissals and layoffs. Critics contend that this regulation raises the costs of employment adjustment and hence impedes employers' ability to respond to fluctuations in demand. Other German labor policies, however, most especially the availability of unemployment insurance benefits for those on short time, facilitate the adjustment of average hours per worker in lieu of layoffs. Building on earlier work, we compare the adjustment of employment, hours and inventories to demand shocks in the German and U.S.

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