The Impacts of Spain’s Labor Market Towards the Launch of EURO

• Main Authors: Hui Chi Chen, 陳惠琪
• Other Authors: Ya Hung Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/06672094050763546291

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 歐洲研究所 === 89 === Economic and monetary union has been a recurring ambition of the European Union since the late 1960s , because it promises both currency stability and a strong advance towards the integration of Europe. This report essentially deals with the impact of the Spanish labor market towards the launch of Euro .The main fact to be explained is the high and persistent unemployment rate prevailing in Spain . To that end , the report is structured in six chapters : “Introduction” , “The background of Euro” , “The influences of Euro towards Spain” , “Spain’s labor market analysis” , “Euro benefits Spain’s labor market and improve the problem of Spain’s high unemployment rate” , “Conclusions” . Chapter Ⅰ, “Introduction” starts with the main motivation and purpose about the author’s subject designing. Chapter Ⅱ, “The background of Euro” refers to the European researchers’ viewpoint , such as the European pursuit of a large , liberalized single market (a component of an economic union )with a population of 370 million persons ( 40 percent more than the US population )and a gross domestic product ( GDP )almost equivalent to that of the US ( 1994 figures using purchasing power rates ) is ‘ optimizing ‘ economic behavior on the part of Europeans .To that same viewpoint , the simultaneous pursuit of a monetary union ( single currency with a single monetary policy ) is not a necessarily ‘ optimal ‘ and is sometimes viewed as sheer economic folly , driven more by political arguments . Each European country may have a different political agenda to fill by pushing for a monetary union as well as Spain . Chapter Ⅲ , “The influences of Euro towards Spain” deals with the changeover phrases of the business community and enterprises . The business community will benefit from the elimination of exchange risk and the improved functioning of the internal market . The changeover to euro will affect every enterprise across all its business activities . It will have a direct and tangible impact on companies and poses significant strategic , marketing and organizational challenges . The Madrid Council of December 1995 decided a three-phase scenario for the introduction of the single currency ( see table attached ) . According to this scenario , EMU will start on 1 January 1999 , when the exchange rates among participating countries will be locked and the euro will become the single currency of the monetary union . Euro notes and coins will enter circulation at the end of 2001 at the least . During the three-year transitional period ( 1999-2001 ) , the former national currencies will continue to circulate as sub-units of the euro . During this period , economic agents may use the euro if they wish , but nobody will be obliged to do so . Chapter Ⅳ , “Spain’s labor market analysis” starts with the demographic evolution in Spain . The structure of the labor force is analyzed next . After an analysis of labor market participation rates , the characteristics of employment and unemployment are studied . This stock analysis is followed by a flow study on the main trends on job creation and destruction . Wages and macroeconomic policy are two important elements in any analysis of the labor market evolution and situation , and they are examined next . Chapter Ⅳ also deals with Spain’s labor market in many industries . The characteristics of the agriculture is mentioned in this section . There are a lot of tables and charts drew and collected in this part . After a short description of the unemployment compensation system currently prevailing in Spain , figures on the incidence of that system are analyzed as well as the influence ff unemployment benefits on search behavior and job finding by the unemployed , an issue on which substantial controversy exists in Spain . Chapter Ⅴ, “Euro benefits Spain’s labor market and improve the problem of Spain’s high unemployment rate” rounds up the report summarizing the main advantages reached because of the implementation of the single currency . First and foremost , the Spanish economy was by this time ( early 1990s ) an economy much more integrated to European economy than it had ever been in the past . To begin with , it appears that the general feeling of both employers and employees was that the reform aimed at increasing the power and the numbers of employers . The euro really brings positive policy to Spanish labor market . On the whole , unemployment in Spain , the magnitude of which cannot be disputed on statistical grounds , is a problem with deep roots in the recent economic history of Spain . Many causes are behind both its development and its persistence and no simple policy exists to put a remedy on it .