UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Release

[Index]      

Geneva, 30 April 2002

UNECE Spring Seminar
Labour market challenges in the ECE region
Monday, 6 May 2002, 10 a.m.
(Palais des Nations, Room XIX)

 

On Monday, 6 May 2002, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will hold its Spring Seminar on the theme: "Labour market challenges in the ECE region" (see programme).

The Seminar will address issues and topics such as: Unemployment in western Europe and the transition economies; Increasing the size and the quality of the domestic labour force; Is immigration a solution to labour market problems?

The session on "Unemployment in western Europe" will focus on the range of possible factors which have contributed to the persistent unemployment problem and on the existing controversies over their relative importance. These factors include inter alia structural causes, such as insufficient flexibility of labour markets, supply-side shocks, the external environment and macroeconomic policies. A critical assessment of current thinking on these matters, reflecting the variety of national experiences will be presented during the session. Policy responses will also be considered.

The session on "Unemployment in the transition economies" will review and evaluate the range of factors (such as the need for economy-wide reallocation of resources, the transformational recession and the accompanying erosion of human capital) which have contributed to the chronically high unemployment in the transition economies. It will discuss why some countries have had a better labour market performance than others and will assess the extent to which different initial conditions, institutional frameworks and economic policies have contributed to the labour market outcomes in the various countries. It will review and compare these problems, including the nature of unemployment, across the region (i.e. eastern Europe and the CIS) and consider what policies to support job creation were feasible and whether they were effective.

The session on "Increasing the size and the quality of the domestic labour force will explore the factors that contribute to (past and projected) changes in labour supply in the ECE region; discuss the linkage between population growth and economic growth; review and evaluate the possibilities of increasing labour force growth and discuss the importance of human capital for the absorptive capacity and international competitiveness of an economy. The linkage with the demand side of the labour market will also be discussed.

The session entitled "Is immigration a solution to labour market problems?" will review and evaluate the role of immigration in coping with short-term shortages of labour skills and in offsetting/alleviating the longer-term problem of ageing populations in many countries. It will explore the wider implications for both the sending and the receiving economies in general, i.e. the costs and benefits of international migration. It will also include a review of recent trends in international migration and will discuss the policy problems surrounding this issue.

The Seminar is open to the public.

For further information please contact:

UNECE Economic Analysis Division
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41(0)22 917 24 79
Fax: +41(0)22 917 03 09
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/ead/

Ref: ECE/GEN/02/07