Ingham, Hilary Clistina (2018) Economic Growth in the EU: Is Flexicurity a Help or a Hindrance? Working Paper. Lancaster University, Department of Economics, Lancaster.
Abstract
In the light of the recent economic crisis, flexicurity has permeated many European Union (EU) policies with the hope that more flexible labour markets alongside modern social security systems and active learning can reinvigorate economic growth. This paper employs a variant of the Solow growth model to examine the impact that flexicurity had on economic growth in 27 EU Member States for the years 2000 to 2015. Using principal components to capture the multi-faceted concept of flexicurity, the results reveal that, in isolation, flexicurity failed to provide any growth stimulus. Lifelong learning, active labour market policy and modern security systems proved However, incorporating the role of the social partners and trust into the model provided a more positive picture of the flexicurity-growth relationship.