Labour market flexibility: What does it really mean?

The 1980s witnessed the emergence of the concept “labour market flexibility” (LMF) in industrialized countries as well as in some developing countries. As a consequence of poor economic performance in the early 1980s, the view that the way in which labour markets operated constituted a significant obstacle to economic growth gained support at the level of policy makers, employers in general and, not least, in part of the academic establishment.