The labour market in Germany: reforms, recession and robustness

Abstract

"This article discusses the German labour market development during the Great Recession as well as in the years before and until 2015. Germany's labour market witnessed a strong upswing during the recent decade and performed remarkably well in the Great Recession. Structural reforms before the crisis had improved the functioning of the labour market and initiated a solid upward trend that also helped overcome the crisis. High establishment-level flexibility allowed buffering the severe drop in GDP. While the employment upswing continued until today, critical developments concerned the increase in atypical jobs, weak wage growth and rising inequality." (Author's abstract, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

Cite article

Weber, E. (2015): The labour market in Germany: reforms, recession and robustness. In: De Economist, Vol. 163, No. 4, p. 461-472. DOI:10.1007/s10645-015-9262-z