It is now widely accepted that expansionary fiscal or monetary policies alone are unlikely to help Europe's ailing economies. Solving Europe's economic problems requires reform of the economic institutions that influence economic activity and the way the economy responds to macroeconomic shocks. This volume employs novel approaches to the study of some of these institutions. The group of contributors in this book come from academia and international organizations in Europe and the USA. They focus on trade unions, which affect real-wage flexibility and the provision of training to workers. They also concentrate on employment protection legislation, which discourages firms from firing old workers and also from hiring new ones. The structure of housing market imperfections that can greatly affect regional mobility is also discussed.

Labour economists and scholars of European studies, as well as economic policymakers, will read Labour Market Adjustments in Europe with great interest.