The labor market in Iceland, 2000-2018

The Icelandic labor market is characterized by high union density and the Icelanders’ willingness to work, as labor force participation is high, the work week long, and people retire late. The resilience and flexibility of the Icelandic labor market was put to the test in the Great Recession as a la...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IZA World of Labor
Main Author: Ólafsdóttir, Katrín
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) 2020
Subjects:
J51
J61
J31
J26
J32
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10419/223625
https://doi.org/10.15185/izawol.474
Description
Summary:The Icelandic labor market is characterized by high union density and the Icelanders’ willingness to work, as labor force participation is high, the work week long, and people retire late. The resilience and flexibility of the Icelandic labor market was put to the test in the Great Recession as a large share of employees in the labor market experienced a fall in work hours and a fall in nominal wages, while unemployment rose less than expected. In recent years there has been a strong influx of foreign workers, mostly from Eastern Europe. Studies have shown that their labor force participation is no lower than that of Icelanders.