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Labour Markets:  text only  cep home page  about the cep  contact us  research   -labour markets: key research areas:   --rise and fall of      unemployment.   --wage inequality.   --social exclusion.   --workless      households.   --southern european      labour markets.   --state of working      britain.   --child labour.   --inequalities in      unemployment.   --staff on this      programme  publications  events & calendar  staff directory  support & services  news & highlights   The Rise and Fall (?) of Unemployment Unemployment rates may have been falling in most OECD countries in recent years but they are still higher than they were in the 1950s and 1960s and remain stubbornly high in many continental European countries. CEP research has long been influential in investigating the reasons for the rise and subsequent fall in unemployment. The central questions are: Why were European levels of unemployment below those in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s but are now higher? Why have some countries, e.g. the US, the UK, Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland been successful in reducing their unemployment rates while others like France, Germany and Italy have not. Popular discussion tends to focus on the idea that European institutions of relatively generous welfare states, trade unions, restrictions on hiring and firing, and minimum wages to blame for the high levels of unemployment in Europe compared to the United States And has the impact of these institutions worsened over time as a result of changes in technology CEP research has looked at all of these issues: the role of institutions and changes in them in explaining unemployment, the role of changes in the demand and supply of skills. CEP researchers have also looked at the role of particular institutions: welfare to work, the minimum wage, trade unions. Recent CEP research on unemployment in Britain and other OECD countries can be found in the following discussion papers. Britain DP600 Unemployment in Britain: A European Success Story Europe and the OECD DP577 A Picture of European Unemployment: Success and Failure. DP557 Institutional Differences and Economic Performance Among OECD Countries DP502 The Beveridge Curve, Unemployment and Wages in the OECD from the 1960s to the 1990s - Preliminary Version DP448 Employment Patterns in OECD Countries But, not all is as rosy as might appear. Headline figures of unemployment rates may be falling but many countries have a growing problem of inactivity among prime-aged men who used to have very strong attachments to work. And there is an increasing problem of workless households. For recent CEP work on the growing problem of inactivity and workless households see: DP579 Poverty and Worklessness in Britain DP479 A Picture of Job Insecurity Facing British Men

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