The employment intensity of economic growth in the G-7 countries

The employment consequences of technological change are addressed here, theoretically and empirically. Using French ''regulation theory'' as a framework, the authors contrast the arguments linking employment growth with economic growth to those of ''jobless growth''. They analyse the whole economy and manufacturing-sector performance in the G-7 countries during the Fordist ''Golden Age'' (1960-73) and post-Fordist (1980-94) periods. While there are some signs of a weakened employment/growth relationship in the manufacturing sector in the short term, they find no historical tendency towards such a weakening overall. Thus the solution to employment problems, they argue, is to foster aggregate economic growth.