In this book leading scholars from across Europe discuss the question of unemployment, bringing to bear theoretical and empirical evidence in assessing this crucial issue against the setting of European integration.

The wide-ranging collection of papers, representing the state of current research on the subject, covers the relationship between unemployment and macroeconomic growth, technological change, demographic trends, immigration and trade. Among the diverse issues explored are wage structures and unemployment across skill-groups, the impact of flexibility of work time, the crucial importance of labour force participation, regional inequality, employment and the welfare services sector, and policies to cure longterm unemployment. Tests for hysteresis in US and European unemployment, and the question of aggregate versus structural aspects of employment growth, are discussed, as is the transformation of employment relations in Central and Eastern Europe.