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The Labor Market Four Years Into the Crisis: Assessing Structural Explanations

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Four years after the beginning of the Great Recession, the labor market remains historically weak. Many observers have concluded that “structural” impediments to recovery bear some of the blame. The author reviews such structural explanations, but after analyzing U.S. data on unemployment and productivity, he finds there is little evidence supporting these hypotheses. He finds that the bulk of the evidence is more consistent with the hypothesis that continued poor performance is primarily attributable to shortfalls in the aggregate demand for labor.

Source: Industrial and Labor Relations Review

DOI: 10.1177/001979391206500301

Author: Jesse Rothstein

Institutions: National Bureau of Economic Research, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Labor market dynamics and wage inequality

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funders: Russell Sage Foundation, Sage Foundation, Washington Center for Equitable Growth, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment