La disoccupazione nell'area OCSE ed in Europa in particolare. E' rilevante il cambiamento tecnologico?

This paper has its origin in the dissatisfaction with two areas of the recent debate on unemployment: concerning the cause of current unemployment and the cure commonly proposed. The paper contrasts both the recurrent orthodox interpretation, focusing on the working of labour market as a cause of unemployment, as well as the labour market policies deriving from this interpretation. A different thesis is then proposed in terms of these two aspects, interpretation and policies. This thesis is based on specific stylized facts, use relevant theoretical models suggested in economic analysis and finds adequate empirical support. The interpretation of the problem of unemployment put forward emphasises the role of technological change, through its labour saving bias, and the weakness of the process of reabsorbtion of technological unemployment through the production of commodities. With the aim of increasing potential growth of jobs and reaching full employment, the paper suggests instead of short-run policies based on labour market deregulation, medium- and long-term policies based on synergies between intangible capital accumulation and non market activities.