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Social capabilities–based flexicurity for a learning economy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Dario Judzik*
Affiliation:
Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Seguridad Social, Argentina
Haider A Khan
Affiliation:
University of Denver, USA
Laura T Spagnolo
Affiliation:
Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Seguridad Social, Argentina
*
Dario Judzik, Subsecretaría de Políticas, Estudios y Estadísticas Laborales, Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Seguridad Social, Av. Leandro N. Alem 628 2° piso, 1001 Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Email: djudzik@trabajo.gob.ar

Abstract

Mainstream economists argue that unemployment must be tackled with ‘flexibilisation’ or ‘labour market deregulation’. The public policy application has been the principle of ‘flexicurity’, with mixed labour market outcomes and limited success. Central contributions to theoretical and empirical economics writing on unemployment issues still espouse ‘flexibilisation’ as a general approach and warn about the detrimental effects of systematic deregulation under expectations of outcomes such as lower unemployment. Departing from a review of this literature, we take a step further from the ‘flexicurity’ prescription, to follow the capabilities approach of Sen and others, and develop a concept of social capabilities based flexicurity for a learning economy, arguing that labour market performance must be targeted in an approach that includes a strong commitment to social well-being.

Type
Rethinking Precariousness and Flexibility
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2016

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