Compared to the Anglo-Saxon tradition, the research of labour markets in Germany has been widely neglected in the German economic sciences, even though the economic policy relevance of the labour market is evident. There is a severe lack of multidisciplinary cooperation between researchers in the field of labour markets in Germany. Hence, the research network intends to enhance collaboration between economists and social scientists in the domain of labour markets research with the main focus on economic issues.Emanating from the often discussed demand for more flexible labour, the main objective is to search for capabilities to meet the permanent challenge of fast and adequate respond to changes in the labour market. Priority goal of the research programme is thus to analyse rigidities which are due to historically grown labour market institutions and to investigate whether and to which extent deregulation is possible and necessary.