Labor Market Flexibility in 13 Latin American Countries and the United States

Book excerpt: "Once again, the quick capacity to overcome economic difficulties in 1995 was insufficient to mark improvements on the labor field." -ILO-Latin America, Editorial, "Labor Outlook 1996" For the first time, this volume compares labor market flexibility across countries in Latin America and the United States. The study uses two performance variables, a price variable measured by real wages and a quantity variable measured alternatively by either employment or unemployment. This paper looks into the structural relationship between output and these variables across 13 countries in Latin America and the United States for the last 20-30 years as a way of measuring the ability of the labor market to absorb output shocks.