How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms

The Czech and Slovak Republics – until 1993 two parts of former Czechoslovakia – offer a unique reform comparison. Even though Slovakia faced higher unemployment since early transition and it was subject to greater reform failures, the two countries experienced similar macroeconomic paths over the f...

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Main Authors:	Jurajda, Štěpán, Mathernová, Katarína
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2012
Subjects:	World Development Report 2005
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9131

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spelling	okr-10986-91312021-04-23T14:02:44Z How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms Jurajda, Štěpán Mathernová, Katarína World Development Report 2005 The Czech and Slovak Republics – until 1993 two parts of former Czechoslovakia – offer a unique reform comparison. Even though Slovakia faced higher unemployment since early transition and it was subject to greater reform failures, the two countries experienced similar macroeconomic paths over the first decade of transition. However, since the currency crises of 1997(8), their depth of reforms has been very different, with Slovakia making major strides to improve the labor market. We suggest two explanations, one based on fiscal pressures, the other stemming from political developments. The Slovak reforms of 1998 to 2002 benefited from a window of opportunity created by pre-1998 policy failures. A small team of advisors working under an influential Cabinet member drafted and implemented many successful reforms in spite of resistance mounted by political opponents. After the 2002 electoral victory of pro-reform parties, the labor market administration has implemented a sweeping reform agenda, which benefits from the weakness of its opponents, notably the trade unions. In contrast, the post-1998 Czech governments are closely tied to trade unions and oppose radical reforms in the labor market despite rising fiscal pressures and unemployment. 2012-06-26T15:38:56Z 2012-06-26T15:38:56Z 2004 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9131 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Europe and Central Asia
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	World Development Report 2005
spellingShingle	World Development Report 2005 Jurajda, Štěpán Mathernová, Katarína How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms
geographic_facet	Europe and Central Asia
description	The Czech and Slovak Republics – until 1993 two parts of former Czechoslovakia – offer a unique reform comparison. Even though Slovakia faced higher unemployment since early transition and it was subject to greater reform failures, the two countries experienced similar macroeconomic paths over the first decade of transition. However, since the currency crises of 1997(8), their depth of reforms has been very different, with Slovakia making major strides to improve the labor market. We suggest two explanations, one based on fiscal pressures, the other stemming from political developments. The Slovak reforms of 1998 to 2002 benefited from a window of opportunity created by pre-1998 policy failures. A small team of advisors working under an influential Cabinet member drafted and implemented many successful reforms in spite of resistance mounted by political opponents. After the 2002 electoral victory of pro-reform parties, the labor market administration has implemented a sweeping reform agenda, which benefits from the weakness of its opponents, notably the trade unions. In contrast, the post-1998 Czech governments are closely tied to trade unions and oppose radical reforms in the labor market despite rising fiscal pressures and unemployment.
author	Jurajda, Štěpán Mathernová, Katarína
author_facet	Jurajda, Štěpán Mathernová, Katarína
author_sort	Jurajda, Štěpán
title	How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms
title_short	How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms
title_full	How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms
title_fullStr	How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms
title_full_unstemmed	How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms
title_sort	how to overhaul the labor market : political economy of recent czech and slovak reforms
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9131
_version_	1764408583286423552

How to Overhaul the Labor Market : Political Economy of Recent Czech and Slovak Reforms

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