Do employment and income security cause unemployment? A comparative study of the US and the E-4
比较美国和E-4（法、德、意、英）的失业数据，发现壮年男性失业率差异不大，但其他群体差异显著；评估就业法规、工资制度和收入保障政策对失业的影响，认为证据混杂，且欧洲制度虽可能推高失业，但也带来更快的收入增长和更平等的收入分配。
High unemployment in Europe has led many economists and policy-makers to praise rapid job creation and low unemployment in the United States and to credit its relatively unregulated labor markets for this success. The authors question the implication that Europe should adopt U.S.-style labor market deregulation and flexibility. A detailed examination of the U.S. and E-4 (French, German, Italian, and U.K.) data reveals almost no difference in unemployment rates for 'prime-age' males but large ones for other demographic groups both within and among all countries (and not just between the United States and the E-4). They also assess the impact of various employment regulations, wage-setting institutions, and income security policies on E-4 unemployment. The authors conclude that the evidence is mixed, and, more importantly, that the same institutions which may raise unemployment in Europe are also contributing to its more rapid earnings growth and greater earnings equality relative to the United States. Thus, European labor market deregulation would at best be a very mixed blessing. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.