The Great Recession Was Not so Great

CentER Discussion Paper Series No. 2015-006

34 Pages Posted: 27 Jan 2015

See all articles by CentER Submitter

CentER Submitter

Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER)

Jan C. van Ours

Tilburg University - Department of Economics; University of Melbourne - Department of Economics

Date Written: January 26, 2015

Abstract

The Great Recession is characterized by a GDP-decline that was unprecedented in the past decades. This paper discusses the implications of the Great Recession analyzing labor market data from 20 OECD countries. Comparing the Great Recession with the 1980s recession it is concluded that there is a high cross-country correlation of the unemployment rates over the two recessions indicating that some labor markets are more vulnerable to fluctuations in economic growth than others. Young workers are the most affected by the Great Recession both in terms of unemployment rates as well as employment rates. For prime age workers employment rates were also affected but for older workers the Great Recession did not have a large impact. To analyze how economic growth and labor market institutions have affected unemployment two types of models are estimated. The main conclusion is rather straightforward and has a "one size fits all" character: to reduce unemployment and create jobs economic growth is needed.

Keywords: Great Recession, unemployment, employment

JEL Classification: J64

Suggested Citation

Submitter, CentER and van Ours, Jan C., The Great Recession Was Not so Great (January 26, 2015). CentER Discussion Paper Series No. 2015-006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2555484 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2555484

CentER Submitter

Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER) ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands
+31 13 4663050 (Phone)

Jan C. Van Ours (Contact Author)

Tilburg University - Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands
+31 13 466 2880 (Phone)
+31 13 466 3042 (Fax)

University of Melbourne - Department of Economics ( email )

Melbourne, 3010
Australia

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