Since the mid-1970s there has been a steady drift away from full employment in the industrialized countries as well as growing scepticism in academic and policy thinking over the usefulness of the concept of full employment. Based on a review of the empirical evidence, the article argues that there is little basis for the sceptical view that full employment is no longer desirable or feasible. On the contrary, full employment remains the key to solving the social ills of the industrialized countries and can still be attained with the right package of international and national policies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bevendge, W.
(1944) Full Employment in a Free Society. London: George Allen and Unwin.
2.
Boltho, A.
and A. Glyn (1995) 'Can Macroeconomic Policies Raise Employment?', International Labour Review134(4-5): 451-470.
3.
Bridges, W.
(1995) Jobshift How to Prosper in a Workplace without Jobs. London: Nicolas Brealey.
4.
Brunello, G.
(1991) 'Mismatch in Japan', in F. Padoa Schioppa (ed.) Mismatch and Labour Mobility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5.
Clark, A.E.
and A.J. Oswald (1994) 'Unhappiness and Unemployment', Economic Journal104 (May): 648-659.
6.
Elmeskov, J.
and M. MacFarlan (1993) 'Unemployment Persistence', OECD Economic Studies21 (Winter).
7.
Friedman, M.
(1968) 'The Role of Monetary Policy', American Economic Review58 (March).
8.
Glyn, A.
and D. Miliband (1994) Paying for Inequality: The Economic Cost of Social Injustice. London: River Oram Press.
9.
Handy, C.
(1994) The Age of Paradox. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
10.
Hedges, B.
(1994) 'Work in a Changing Climate', British Social Attitudes, Social and Community Planning Research, the 11th Report.
11.
ILO (International Labour Organization)
(1995) World Employment 1995. Geneva: ILO.
12.
ILO (International Labour Organization)
(1996) Employment Policies in a Global Context. Geneva: ILO.
13.
Jackman, R.
, R. Layard and S. Nickell (1991a) Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
14.
Jackman, R.
, R. Layard and S. Savouri, (1991b) 'Mismatch: A Framework for Thought', in F. Padoa Schioppa (ed.) Mismatch and Labour Mobility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15.
Keynes, J.M.
(1942) The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London: Macmillan.
16.
Lucas, R., Jr
(1978) 'Unemployment Policy', American Economic Review58 (May).
17.
Morissete, R.
and L. Salvas-Bronsard (1993) 'Structural Unemployment and Disequilibrium', European Economic Review37 (August): 1251-1257.
18.
OECD (Organization for European Cooperation and Development)
(1994) The OECD Jobs Study: Evidence and Explanation, Part 1, Labour Market Trends and Underlying Forces of Change. Paris: OECD.
19.
Oswald, A.J. (forthcoming) 'Happiness and Economic Performance', mimeo.
20.
Rifkin, J.
(1995) The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labour Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era. New York: G.P. Putnam.
21.
United Nations Development Program
(1993) Human Development Report 1993. New York: Oxford University Press.
22.
Vivarelli, M. (1995) 'The Collapse of Work or a New Concept of Full Employment', mimeo. Geneva: ILO.
