Protected Mobility for Employment and Decent Work: Labour Market Security in a Globalised World

By Peter Auer

Good labour market results in OECD countries and indicators of job quality are related to labour market institutions and policies. Efficiency and equity in open economies is best sought when institutions and policies provide for "protected mobility".

Stable employment or lifelong employment is becoming a thing of the past, but to ensure societies do not slide into greater inequality and poverty, labour market institutions need to be reinvented to ensure that the loss of the standard employment relations does not mean increased uncertainty and income insecurity for workers. So often we here of the need for flexible workers, but that flexibility should not require uncertainty, loss of income and social security. The public good of a scheme of "protected Flexibility" as per the example of Denmark is reflected in high public support for the system.

(Journal of Industrial Relations; vol. 48, no. 1, February 2006)