Theoretical literature and mainstream economic thought have largely maintained that a more flexible job better responds to the enterprises' need to curb costs and boost efficiency.

However, labour flexibility not only leads to a market dualism between protected and non-protected workers, it might also generate depressive effects on the economy: income uncertainty has an impact on aggregate demand, both directly (less propensity to consume) and because of a lower debt capacity.

Twenty years have passed since the start of the long season of reforms which, in Europe and around the world, has greatly modified the regulation of working relationships. What results have been achieved? Has employment gone up or down? And what about productivity? Here is a brief overview of the main conclusions reached by experts and by renowned international institutions, such as IMF, World Bank and OECD.