Beschreibung

"In recent decades, economic policy makers across Europe have sought to increase labour market flexibility by promoting the use of temporary employment. Four articles in a Feature forthcoming in the Economic Journal (which is based on a IAB/LASER workshop) provide new results on how fixed-term and agency work contracts affect firm productivity and how the segments of two-tier labour markets interact. This paper points to a possible trade-off between efficiency and equity when deregulating labour markets. Taken together, the evidence presented in this Feature suggests that flexible forms of employment can be both a boon and a bane for labour markets and for society as a whole." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))