E Competitive markets |
2.7 Labour market regulation |
Why is it significant? How does the UK perform? A survey in the
International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World
Competitiveness Yearbook suggests that the UK labour market has a
regulatory environment perceived as significantly better than other major
European countries, and only slightly behind the US (Chart
2.7.1). The mark-up on wage costs faced by employers (eg social security charges) is another measure of the burden of government intervention. US figures show that the UK compares very favourably with other G7 countries on this measure, with non-wage labour costs just under 13 per cent of total labour costs, compared with roughly 15-30 per cent for the other G7 and EU countries (Chart 2.7.2). |
Last updated on 20 November 2003