[en] The paper analyzes the mechanisms by which policies aiming at downsizing the labour force (like early retirement policies) may in fact lead to lower employment levels, even though the equilibrium unemployment rate is decreased. Numerical examples suggest that job losses may be potentially important, even in the case where early retirements are concentrated among groups with high unemployment levels (low-skilled workers). The model takes into account the effects coming from imperfect competition and wage negotiations, as well as those coming from frictions and matching difficulties in an economy with continuous job creations and destructions. Reducing the labour force by promoting early retirement induces in the long run an increase in labour costs, either directly through the effect of unemployment on wages, or indirectly via the effect of unemployment on hiring difficulties.
