Unemployment persistence George S. Alogoskoufis and Alan Manning A comparison of unemployment across fourteen European countries, Japan and the US shows a great diversity of persistence: high in most of Europe outside the Scandinavian countries, Austria and Switzerland, low in Japan and the US. Three reasons for unemployment persistence are examined. First, employed workers may not care about the unemployed, and only wish to protect their own jobs. The authors find little support for this view, except perhaps in the US. Second, workers may be reluctant to revise downward their wage aspirations. This seems to be the case in Europe, as opposed to the US and Japan. Third, firms may be slow in adjusting employment to its optimum level. This is the case in Europe and Japan, not in the US. Labour market reforms might help, but have their own costs. The authors conclude that the best course of actions is a demand expansion combined with incomes policies.
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