The Impact of Greek Labour Market Regulation on Temporary and Family Employment: Evidence from a New Survey

Abstract

This paper uses an original dataset for 206 workplaces in Thessaly (Greece), to study consequences of Greece's employment protection law (EPL) and national wage minimum for temporary employment. We find higher temporary employment rates especially among a "grey" market group of workplaces that pay low wages and avoid the national wage minimum. A similar factor boosts family employment. We also find that EPL "matters", in particular, managers who prefer temporary contracts because temps are less protected definitely employ more temps. We discuss whether temporary and family work is a form of escape from regulation for less prosperous firms.