Springing from the debate over the Danish flexicurity system, the author of CEPR DP8025 outlines a model in which incentive effects of tax-financed unemployment benefits are balanced by direct and indirect insurance benefits. Such benefits may increase labour market flexibility by making job searches less risky for workers.

Since the 1970s, the number of hours worked per employee has fallen substantially in continental Europe, while it has remained roughly constant in the US. The authors of CEPR DP6314 show that this divergence in the number of hours worked per employee on the two sides of the Atlantic can be explained by the evolution of the respective labour market conditions over the last three decades.