%0 Report
        %A Saint-Paul, Gilles
        %T Some Thoughts on Macroeconomic Fluctuations and the Timing of Labor Market Reform
        %D 2002
        %8 2002 Oct
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 611
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp611
        %X In this paper, I analyze the pros and cons of implementing structural reforms of the labor
market in booms vs. recessions, in light of considerations of social efficiency, political
viability, and macroeconomic fine tuning. While the optimal timing of a reform depends on the
relative importance of several conflicting effects, it seems clear that a reform should be
accompanied by an expansionary macroeconomic policy. This makes structural reform more
problematic in the context of the European Monetary Union.
        %K labour market reforms
%K unemployment
%K employment protection
%K monetary union
%K firing costs
%K political economy