Today and tomorrow we are having an academic debate: so my intent here is not to state the Bank’s policy preferences, if any, but to recall, in a very sketchy way, the conceptual framework for some of the interesting papers that will be presented on this subject; or rather, collection of subjects. One of the subjects is the following.
In many countries, policy dilemmas have led to the emergence of dual labour markets, with a strongly protected core and a less protected fringe. Temporary or seasonal, or otherwise flexible jobs may be an efficient way to respond to certain features of the production process or, sometimes, to accommodate workers’ preferences.