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Fiscal Implications of an Aging Population pp 113–136Cite as

Ageing and the labor market

Age structure, cohort size and unemployment

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Part of the book series: Population Economics ((POPULATION))

Abstract

Generation size and structure may have substantial effects on the labor market. This perspective is crucial for the German economy which is one of the most rapidly ageing societies. The paper studies the effects of relative cohort size and relative cohort age on unemployment. The time-series analysis employs co-integration techniques to discriminate between short-run and long-run developments. The econometric investigations suggest that in the long-run, there is no sufficient evidence that young cohorts experience higher unemployment rates if their cohort size is relatively high. In the short-run, there is in general a positive impact of relative cohort size and relative cohort age on unemployment.

Revised version of Discussion Paper No. 90-25, University of Munich. A first draft of this paper was written, when I was visiting CentER, Tilburg University. I wish to thank Sijbren Cnossen, John De New, Horst Kräger, Walter Krämer, Winfried Schmähl, Christoph M. Schmidt, Bernard M.S. van Praag, Michael R. Veall, Jürgen Wolters, the participants of the ISPE-conference and three referees of this journal for helpful comments, John De New, Lucie Merkle and Martin Mühleisen for able research assistance, and the German Science Foundation (DFG) for financial support. The paper has also benefited from a research visit to Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seminar of Labor and Population Economics, University of Munich, Ludwigstrasse 28 RG, W-8000, München 22, Federal Republic of Germany

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

  2. CEPR, London, England

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Authors
  1. Klaus F. Zimmermann
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Bonn, Adenauerallee 24-42, D-5300, Bonn 1, Germany

    Dieter Bös

  2. Faculty of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, NL-3000, DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Sijbren Cnossen

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© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Zimmermann, K.F. (1992). Ageing and the labor market. In: Bös, D., Cnossen, S. (eds) Fiscal Implications of an Aging Population. Population Economics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77250-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77250-4_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-77252-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-77250-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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