The annual ADRES conference co-organised by EDHEC Business School and the Université du Maine took place last month at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris. This event, which aimed to underline the differences between the job markets in Europe and the United States, saw over 160 attendees from Europe, Africa and the US come to discover the latest scientific research in the area.

The research papers presented underlined notably the consequences of institutional differences (unemployment benefit, job market and real estate regulations...) on the employment situation on both sides of the Atlantic. These elements highlighted in particular the difficulties encountered in France by young people and senior workers.

Among the participants who came to present their research were Olivier Blanchard from MIT, Edward Prescott, Nobel laureate 2004 and Richard Rogerson, co-editor of the American Economic Review, from the University of Arizona and Robert Shimer, editor of the Journal of Political Economy, from the University of Chicago. Antoine Magnier, director of DARES, and Selma Mahfouz of the DGTPE presented the current French job market situation and its recent development following government reforms and conducted a round-table debate with researchers.

Arnaud Chéron, director of the EDHEC research programme on the evaluation of employment and competition policy in France, presented a research document, co-written with François Langot and Jean-Olivier Hairault, on the comparative performances of the job market in France and the US. The weaker employment levels in France concerning young workers and workers over 55 are explained in part by the nature of French institutions, according to Chéron. Job protections and unemployment benefit systems and high minimum wages may not penalise the employment of the 25-54 year olds in France, but they do go a substantial way to explaining the employment difficulties encountered by young people; the under-employment of the over 55's is linked to the conditions for early retirement in France.