Amílcar Moreira

The activation dilemma : reconciling the fairness and effectiveness of minimum income schemes in Europe

Introduction The right to a minimum income: between Mead and Van Parijs Justifying a minimum income guarantee: the right to personal development The activation dilemma: a comparative study Measuring respect for the right to personal development The employment effectiveness of minimum income schemes The employment effectiveness of minimum income schemes and their respect for the right to personal development Conclusion.

Austerity-Driven Labour Market Reforms in Southern Europe: Eroding the Security of Labour Market Insiders

The sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone and increased pressures for ‘structural reform’ have led to a period of intensive change in labour market policy in Southern Europe. Examining the cases of Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy, this article focuses on the security of labour market insiders, a key group in labour markets that is highly segmented. The security of labour market insiders is conceptualised as consisting of security in employment (protection against dismissals) and security in unemployment (protection against drops in income provided by unemployment insurance and assistance). Using changes in national laws, the article charts and compares labour market change along these two dimensions across these four Southern European countries. Because labour market reform has not been restricted to Southern Europe, the article also compares these developments to broader changes in the countries of the Eurozone, using OECD and MISSOC data. Having demonstrated the degree to which the security of labour market insiders has diminished, the article concludes with an agenda for research on the policy dynamics of Southern European labour market reform in the wake of the financial crisis.

The Demand for Older Workers

All advanced economies are experiencing rapid population ageing caused by the combination of an increase in longevity and a sharp drop in fertility rates. This phenomenon is reducing the share of the working-age population in many of these countries, and is thus likely to exert negative pressure on economic growth. The rising old-age dependency ratio also poses serious problems for the public finances through growing pressures for expenditure on pensions, health and long-term care. Unless participation rates rise markedly, labour force growth will fall in the majority of European countries as well as in Japan (see OECD, 2006). If current trends of early retirement do not improve considerably, the exits from the labour force will begin to outnumber labour market entrants, imposing heavy costs of adjustment on employers.