OECD Employment Outlook 2004

Clocking in (and out): several facets of working time -- How do working hours vary across OECD countries? What are the links between employment rates for women and other under-represented groups, the incidence of part-time work and total hours worked? Is work-life balance threatened by rising employment rates for parents and a "long-hours culture"? Employment protection regulation and labour market performance -- Do employment protection regulations have an impact on firms' hiring and firing decisions and is this impact different across demographic groups? Do such regulations explain the high incidence of temporary work recorded in certain countries? How best to instill labour market dynamism while also protecting workers against job and income loss? Wage-setting institutions and outcomes -- Have wage-setting institutions become more supportive of high employment rates and broadly-shared prosperity? To what extent is the trend towards lower union density and more decentralised collective bargaining a factor behind wage moderation and greater earnings inequality recorded in some OECD countries? Improving skills for more and better jobs: does training make a difference? -- Do policies that enhance workers' skills help improve the overall employment situation? To what extent do workers who receive training enjoy better job prospects to the detriment of their non-trained counterparts? Are the effects of training different across demographic groups and what do empirical findings suggest as regards lifelong learning strategies? Informal employment and promoting the transition to a salaried economy -- To what extent does undeclared work include household production, work helping out friends, work by illegal migrants, undeclared wages, "black market" transactions, tax evasion by the self-employed, and the production of illicit goods? Do high taxes, red tape, poor-quality government services and strict employment regulations exclude workers from formal employment, and how can the transition to a salaried economy be promoted?