Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine sparked Europe’s largest refugee crisis since WWII. Unlike past waves of migrants, Ukrainian refugees gained immediate labour market access through the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive, offering a unique policy test. This column finds that the resulting labour force increase had no economically meaningful impact on employment, unemployment, or inactivity rates […]
The Covid-19 pandemic sparked a large and lasting shift to remote work. This column draws on detailed administrative data from a major call centre in Türkiye to show that a permanent shift to fully remote work can expand recruitment and raise productivity without compromising service quality. The transition increased the share of women, including married […]
Advanced economies are still experiencing labour shortages in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This column examines the high labour shortages across OECD countries, focusing on wage and non-wage job quality. Real wages have generally increased, but with differences between countries and industries. Beyond pay, job insecurity, poor working conditions, and exposure to health risks […]
Economic sanctions have become an increasingly common instrument of foreign policy, promoted as a non-violent alternative to military intervention. However, their effects on labour markets remain underexplored. This column examines the case of Iran following the unprecedented international sanctions imposed in 2012 to investigate how sudden and extreme shocks to market access affect the allocation […]
