This public lecture is now available as MP3 (please listen to the file above in three parts) and the PowerPoint slides as a PDF file (as a courtesy to the presenter, please contact him for permission to refer to his PowerPoint notes for the purpose of further research).
This presentation analyses the structural trend towards increased labour market flexibility in terms of the shift from permanent to temporary work and increased job insecurity. A comparison of Australia and The Netherlands reveals that cyclical fluctuations are an important phenomenon in labour markets, but that recessions systematically have a lasting impact on this trend: during recessions flexibility increases in an irreversible way. The rise in underemployment since the early 1990s has changed the wage setting process in labour markets, as employers use this slack to discipline wages growth and to adjust to the uncertainty of the business cycle. This strategy is particularly effective during recessions. This finding counters the notion that additional government expenditure when unemployment is low enhances inflationary pressure and harms economic growth.
Joan Muysken is Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Maastricht University. He occupied several key positions in the Faculty, including that of Dean. Professor Muysken studied quantitative economics at the University of Groningen, where he gained a PhD degree with a study on the aggregation of production functions. He was a visiting researcher at several universities, including SUNY Buffalo (USA), the University of Louvain (Belgium), and the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim (Germany). Professor Muysken published widely on various aspects of labour economics, unemployment and wage formation, as well as theories of economic growth. He is also Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) Europe, and associated with CofFEE Australia at the University of Newcastle.
RSVP to europe@anu.edu.au by Monday 14 November
To view the flyer for this event please see: Do Flexible Labour Markets Enhance Employment?
