Labor Market Flexibility, Flexicurity & Employment: Lessons of the Baltic States

This book aims to throw light upon the main changes in the Baltic states’ labour markets, laying emphasis on the labour market flexibility, flexicurity and employment issues in the context of the EU eastward enlargement. The European labour markets of both old (EU-15) and new (EU-10) member states are facing big challenges in their current development. There are high expectations connected with improvement of competitiveness of European economy and enlargement of Euro area. Flexible labour markets help to maintain the expected quick economic growth and to adjust to possible asymmetric shocks of Euro area development. The particular significance of the labour market flexibility is also outlined by the Optimal Currency Area Theory (Mundell, 1961), which forms the theoretical framework for the EMU. At the same time a significant increase of labour market flexibility may due to possible increased employment and consequently also income insecurity causing weakening cohesion of a society. European citizens, particularly the citizens of the EU-15 countries, are used to rely on the European social model which stresses the importance of high social security, including also employment security. For improvement of economic growth and competitiveness, the new concept called flexicurity has been introduced. Flexicurity as a policy option in general meaning several ways of social protection for a flexible workforce, which may support social cohesion and sustainable economic growth in the long run perspective. This book brings together new research in this exciting field of economical studies.