Labor policies and capital mobility in theory and in EMU

Europe׳s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was characterized by large international imbalances and uneven national labor market reforms. In this paper׳s model, labor policies that aim to increase the welfare of capital-poor individuals within each country are influenced by financial integration across differently capital-abundant countries. The model predicts that capital outflows should be associated with labor market deregulation, as was the case in EMU, and helps interpret inequality developments and policy tensions in that experience.