Prague Economic Papers 1999, 8(3) | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.46

Employment structure and unemployment in the czech republic

Vladislav Flek

Did exceptionally low unemployment between 1990-1996 mean that the CzechRepublic had sacrificed more labour market flexibility and faster changes inthe structure of employmnet in exchange for social stability? Or had thecountry made use of its specific initial conditions and managed to followits own mode of labour market restructuring, without the necessity ofincreasing the rate of unemployment drastically? Does currently increasingunemployment accelerate the coversion of the structure of employment towardsthe EU-15 patterns? In attemting to answer the above questions, the paperargues that the Czech unemployment miracle has disappeared as soon as theparticipation rate had become stable, labour shedding accelerated and theeconomic policies responded to macroeconomic overheating. The main sourcesof structural changes in employment were massive labour force withdrawals inagriculture and industry, coupled with job-to-job movements of labour. But,the process of further structural changes has nearly been stopped, despitethe recent rise in unemployment. Instead of being a driving force of labourmobility, current unemploymnet bears predominantly cyclical features.

Keywords: employment, labour flows, labour force participation, sector shares of employment, unemployment

Published: January 1, 1999  Show citation