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Investigating the Greek Unemployment from a Classical Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Gymnopoulos

    (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

  • Thanos Poulakis

    (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

  • Haris Poulakis

    (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

  • Nikolaos Chatzarakis

    (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of unemployment in Greek economy from a Marxist perspective. Specifically, we focus on analysing the structure of the Greek labour market with respect to the results of the memoranda and their relation to the current phase of capital accumulation. Rejecting the orthodox approaches to measuring and analysing unemployment, we first turn our focus to three indicators that are proposed by the BLS, calculating them in the case of the Greek labour market. Then, the three categories of stagnant, conjectural and latent reserve army are presented and respective unemployment rates are calculated for the Greek economy. Our conclusion is that the Marxian categories, not only capture the real dimension and size of the labour market, but they also contain information about changes in the labour force, that are not easily considered through the official indices.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Gymnopoulos & Thanos Poulakis & Haris Poulakis & Nikolaos Chatzarakis, 2021. "Investigating the Greek Unemployment from a Classical Perspective," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 15(1), pages 69-91, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:awu:journl:v:15:y:2021:i:1:p:69-91
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stagnant Unemployment; Conjectural Unemployment; Latent Unemployment; Reserve Army of Labour;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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