This evidence may be viewed as an indicator of structural rigidities which have become binding in the great recession.20  20  8  See CompNet Task Force, 2014, “Micro-based evidence of EU competitiveness: the CompNet database”, ECB Working Paper No 1634, February. BIS central bankers’ speeches  Labour market reforms have also been advocated by many commentators.
A widely held view during the 1990s was that labour market institutions were too rigid and that the common currency would make reform of these markets even more urgent.