Daily Archives: 26 November 2024

Long-term sustainability of zero-growth capitalism: activity, employment and unemployment according to different modes of income distribution

Jacques MazierMacro-economical and societal challengesPublicationsResearch areaResearch FellowsWorking papersComments Off on Long-term sustainability of zero-growth capitalism: activity, employment and unemployment according to different modes of income distribution

This paper studies the long-term consequences of a zero-growth regime on the evolution of employment and unemployment, depending on the assumptions we can make concerning the evolution of the working population, labor productivity and working hours. These consequences are examined through three scenarios. This leads us to conclude that the goal of full employment would be put under greater strain by demographic growth (if this were to persist), than by productivity gains (if these were to persist). Admittedly, a sufficiently rapid individual reduction in working hours can counter the negative effects on employment of these two trends combined. But productivity gains are the only way to keep per-capita wages constant.