Kann der regionale Kontext zur „Arbeitslosenfalle“ werden?

The focus of this paper is on mobility between local labour markets. Using multilevel data, the effect of local unemployment on mobility between local labour markets is investigated. A distinction is made between several dimensions of unemployment: (1) unemployment as a status in the life course at the individual level, (2) unemployment duration, (3) the unemployment rate at the regional level. One of the main results contradicts neoclassical economics: the rate of mobility between local labour markets decreases with increasing local unemployment. In a sense, persons become “trapped” in the local context because under bad labour market conditions unemployed persons, too, tend to immobility. As a result, a devaluation of human capital might be possible.     

Employment and labour productivity in high unemployment countries

Contemporary development strategies emphasize labour productivity growth because it has historically underpinned rising living standards. Today, however, poverty reduction and inclusive development in those developing countries with high unemployment require increasing the employment rate even if this means lower average labour productivity. We critique the International Labour Organization (ILO) for its overly universalizing advocacy of high‐productivity growth strategies and for failing to confront the trade‐off between more and better‐quality jobs. This is particularly problematic in high unemployment contexts in Southern Africa, where labour productivity growth between 2000 and 2013 came at the cost of a falling employment rate.     

Can welfare and labour market regimes explain cross‐country differences in the unemployment of young people?

No single institution can reduce (long‐term) youth unemployment. Welfare and labour market institutions function as “bundles”, through multiple inter‐institutional synergies. Based on a focused literature review for theory and on cluster analysis for empirics, the author identifies five such regimes across the EU‐27 and estimates their effects on the youth unemployment ratio and on long‐term youth unemployment. The most helpful institutional arrangement for young people in the labour market would be a combination of strong dual apprenticeship embedded in a corporatist labour market regime with high levels of social security, active labour market policy, and spending on education and childcare.     

The effect of labour market polarization on university students’ job market‐related outcomes in the Republic of Korea: Implications for youth unemployment

This article aims to assess the effect of the labour market environment on university students’ labour market‐related behaviour in the Republic of Korea. Using data from the country's Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey for 2005–13, the author estimates the effect of macroeconomic variables on university students’ job market‐related outcomes. Results indicate that labour market polarization, as measured by the labour market polarization index developed by Chung and Jung (2016), has a significant effect on both the nominal and masked (through extension of university enrolment and university transfers) unemployment of university students. These findings imply that the labour market structure is a key element in understanding youth unemployment.     

The scars of youth: Effects of early‐career unemployment on future unemployment experience

Does early‐career unemployment cause future unemployment? The authors approach this question using German administrative matched employer–employee data that track almost 700,000 individuals over 24 years. Instrumenting early‐career unemployment with firm‐specific labour demand shocks, they find significant and long‐lasting “scarring effects”. In the mean, each additional day of unemployment during the first eight years on the labour market increases unemployment in the following 16 years by half a day. However, quantile regressions show that the scarring effects are much stronger for individuals who already suffer from lengthy and repeated spells of unemployment.     

Arbeitslos oder erwerbsunfähig?

An international comparison of unemployment rates suggests a poor performance of the German labour market. Based on comparative analyses for Germany, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, the UK and the United States the paper tries to show that a more sophisticated picture can be drawn by taking additional forms of non-employment (e.g. disability, retirement or out of labour force) into account. For this purpose data from the “European Social Survey” (ESS) and the survey “Citizenship, Involvement and Democracy” collected in 2004 and 2005 is analysed. While “unemployment” plays a dominant role in Germany, people with comparable demographic characteristics and similar health status are increasingly classified as “permanently disabled” in the other countries. The results stress that an international comparison of labour market performance and especially a comparison of the effectiveness of labour market and social policy reforms should not only rely on employment and unemployment rates. Taking alternative forms of non-employment into account can increase our knowledge and understanding of functional differences of labour markets in Europe and the United States.     

The labour market absorption of CIS immigrants to Israel: 1989-1994

The labour market absorption in the 1990s of some 600,000 immigrants from the ex-USSR has, on the whole, been a major success. The rate of unemployment among immigrants who came in 1990 has converged on the rate of unemployment for native Israelis. However, concern has been focused on the low rates of occupational retention and the waste of human capital that this implies. We use three micro data sets to investigate the absorption dynamics of CIS immigrants in the Israeli labour market in the 1990s.
Our findings suggest that the employment absorption process is steady, if slow. The Labour Force Survey suggests that "academics" experience positive duration dependence during the first four years in Israel. Vocational training did not appear to promote employment absorption. However, Hebrew training has a beneficial effect on employment absorption. We caution against the interpretation of occupational mismatch as being identical with the waste of human capital. It takes a long time until owners of human capital can fully adapt it to their new milieu.     

A multidimensional employment quality index for Brazil, 2002–11

In countries where informal, insecure jobs are widespread, traditional labour market indicators – such as the unemployment rate, labour force participation rate and wages – are not necessarily the most meaningful. The authors use a multidimensional employment quality index to analyse the Brazilian labour market over the period 2002–11, across three dimensions: earnings, formality (measured by the existence of an employment contract and social security contributions) and job tenure. The results show a significant increase in employment quality overall, especially in the years 2009–11, but with considerable differences between wage employees and self‐employed workers, and between industries.     

The measurement of unemployment using completed durations: evidence on the gender gap in unemployment in France

This paper examines how unemployment can be measured in a normative fashion - taking into account the mean and inequality of spell lengths - and how the extent of unemployment can be estimated from cross section data of the type found in labour force surveys. The issue is not straightforward since in these surveys completed durations of unemployed individuals are not observed yet they constitute the basis for calculating the kind of index that has been proposed to measure the extent of unemployment in a way that goes beyond the unemployment rate. The index proposed by Shorrocks has robust normative foundations and has an equivalent representation in terms of average complete duration and the density of completed durations. Building upon earlier work applied in the United States for estimating the average completed duration, we present a method that enables the index to be calculated based on an estimate of the density of completed durations. The approach is illustrated in the context of comparing male-female unemployment differences in France, where historically female unemployment has been higher than that of males.     

EU Integration & Emigration Consequences: The Case of Lithuania

This paper analyses the causes, consequences, and policy implications of Lithuanian emigration following the country’s European Union (EU) accession in May 2004. After placing Lithuanian emigration in its historical context, the study assesses the recent dynamics, including the driving forces and characteristics of Lithuanian emigration at both the international and domestic level. The study finds that the primary determinants of this movement are both demand‐ and supply‐side factors. On the demand side, the labour shortages, decline in the working age population, and desire for cheaper labour in Western European countries function to attract Lithuanian labour. Concurrently, lower wages, higher unemployment, and the generally less developed economic conditions in Lithuania are encouraging Lithuanians to take advantage of the greater mobility that came with EU accession. The expanding networks linking migrants and potential migrants are facilitating this out‐migration, as well as the social mind‐set by which emigration is a perceived solution to socio‐economic difficulties. This study concludes that the consequences of this new emigration reality are mixed. The free movement of workers has helped to relieve pressure on the domestic labour market, drive down unemployment, place upward pressure on wages, and increase the remittances rate to Lithuania. However, concern is not ill‐founded; recent emigration has introduced labour market shortages, placed greater demographic pressure on the country, and increased the likelihood of brain drain. This study argues, therefore, that while Lithuanian emigration cannot and should not be stopped, Lithuania does have policy alternatives as a sending‐country that will help to mitigate the costs of emigration and maximize the benefits for the country’s long‐term development.     

Putting Moral Standards on the Map: The Construction of Unemployment and the Housing Problem in Turn-of-the-Century London1

Abstract This article challenges the idea that the construction of unemployment in turn-of-the-century Great Britain was an attempt simply to normalize employment relations by promoting regular work patterns. An analysis of the Booth survey in terms of the standard of life concept demonstrates the importance of the slum clearance problematic in bringing about the major rethink in policy thinking which ultimately led to the labour exchange project. The peculiar mobilisation patterns promoted by the labour exchange project reflect the difficulty or impossibility of delocalising industry or dock activity into the London suburbs.     

Profiles of refugee and non-refugee Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza

Relying on demographic and labour surveys which the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics collected in 1995, this article investigates the profile of West Bank and Gaza refugees. Refugees are better educated and have higher fertility than non-refugee Palestinians, but the difference is small. However, they have a significantly lower participation rate, a higher unemployment rate and a higher incidence of arrests and work stoppage than the corresponding rates among non-refugee Palestinians. A smaller proportion of Palestinians commute to work into the Israeli labour market and refugees earn lower wages than non-refugees. Returns to investment in education are small for both groups. High fertility among refugees imposes a future challenge for policy makers in terms of resources required for the provision of appropriate education and health facilities. Employing future labour market entrants is another serious policy challenge.     

Regional wages and subjective measures of employment opportunities

We utilise a rich set of regional labour market variables to explain regional variation in Norwegian manufacturing wages. In particular, regional indicators of labour market conditions are computed from survey data in which respondents are asked to evaluate local employment opportunities. We find that average reported satisfaction with local job prospects and other survey-based indicators perform better in regional wage equations than traditional labour market variables, including the regional unemployment rate. Our results suggest that subjective measures of employment opportunities provide useful information about wage pressure.     

Immigrant Populations and the Labour Market in Greece at the Beginning of the Twenty‐First Century

Our purpose in undertaking this research is to methodically map the labour market circumstances of the main immigrant groups in Greece. We classify all of the Districts of Greece into three categories (Diverse, Mixed and Unmixed) according to the ethnic composition of each District. We measure how the employment status of the immigrants varies (1) according to the ethnic group and sex of the immigrant, and (2) according to the ethnic composition and economic structure of a District. In general, the majority of immigrants exhibit lower unemployment and higher economic activity rates than the indigenous Greeks. Three immigrant groups (Albanians, Bulgarians and “Other”), which make up two‐thirds of the foreign‐born population of Greece, have lower unemployment rates than the national average, and lower rates than Greeks as well. The poorest labour market outcomes are observed in Unmixed and Mixed Districts, whereas Diverse Districts are better off. At the regional level, the most disadvantaged Geographical Department is the Ionian Islands, since it presents the highest unemployment rates for the general population for both sexes. With regard to sex‐differential unemployment across immigrant groups, we found that women exhibit higher unemployment than men in almost every ethnic group.     

Poverty and the business cycle: A regional panel data analysis for Spain using alternative measures of unemployment

Conventional wisdom predicts that changes in the aggregate unemployment rate may significantly affect a country’s income distribution and, consequently, have a relevant impact on the evolution of its poverty rate. However, the relationship between labour macroeconomic indicators and poverty seems to have become weaker recently. Using panel data on unemployment and poverty for Spanish regions, we estimate a system GMM model to model this relationship using alternative measures of the unemployment rate. We also test the hypothesis of asymmetric effects of the business cycle on the share of poor individuals in the population. Our results show that unemployment has a positive impact on severe poverty, while inflation has a negative effect. We also highlight the extent to which results differ when alternative intra-household unemployment distribution-sensitive measures are considered. Regarding the existence of asymmetric business cycle effects on severe poverty, our results show that despite the fact that the Great Recession has had a strong and positive effect on severe poverty, the effects of expansions and recessions on poverty are not significantly different.     

‘Scarred’ young entrepreneurs. Exploring young adults’ transition from former unemployment to self-employment

The recent increase in youth unemployment has major implications for the current and future development of European labour markets. Previous studies reveal the long lasting ‘scarring effects’ of early unemployment experience on later career prospects, including a higher probability of future unemployment or social exclusion. Self-employment is often advocated as a potential remedy for unemployment in general and youth unemployment in particular. In this study, we investigate the individual-level factors that lead young people with the ‘scar’ of previous unemployment to engage in self-employment. Based on a recent survey among young adults in eleven European countries, we show that previous unemployment has a significant moderating effect on other individual-level characteristics usually associated with a higher likelihood of being self-employed. While the overall propensity of self-employment is not affected by unemployment experience, the reasons for becoming one’s own boss differ considerably between those young adults who have and those who have not experienced unemployment in the past.     

Immigration and unemployment in Australia

"This article is presented in two parts. The first contains a discussion of Australia's migration programme, its different categories and changes in intakes. It also deals with the contribution made by immigration to the size of the labour force.... The second part deals with the effect of immigration on the unemployment rate and concludes that its effect is negligible or, at best, slightly positive.... Against this background the paper discusses factors contributing to the employment and unemployment experience of migrants, for whom English language proficiency and the possession of recognized skills and qualifications are important in determining employability." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Inequality of opportunity and (unequal) opportunities in the youth labour market: How is the Arab world different?

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) labour market is emblematic of widespread youth unemployment and high discouragement rates, experiencing disproportionately high levels of unemployment among educated young people. Using ILO School-to-Work Transition Surveys for Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, the authors explore whether this is related to inequality of opportunity or to deeper structural characteristics that create a mismatch between skill demand and supply on the labour market. The low availability of high-skilled jobs and the low value placed on skills gained through the system of vocational training are found to have high explanatory power.     

From wage rigidity to labour market institution rigidity: A turning-point in explaining unemployment?

In this paper we offer a critical discussion about the concept of labour market rigidity in the light of recent theoretical approaches that have aimed to provide sound micro-foundations to the presence of unemployment in market economies. We point out that the concept of labour market rigidity usually referred to in such theories has changed over time, involving in succession the rigidity of wages, contracts and labour market institutions. We also appraise the factors that lead labour market institutions rigidity, stressed by the search literature, to challenge the more widespread explanation of unemployment grounded on wage rigidity. Moreover, we analyse some theoretical and empirical issues that cast doubt on the ability to deal with unemployment, disentangling the role of institutional rigidities from that of wage stickiness.     

Migration between the United States and Canada: a study of labour market adjustment

"... The main purpose of this study is to examine population flows between Canada and the United States [from mid-1947 to mid-1972] in order to investigate the degree to which labour market adjustment is aided by such movements. [The author considers] several functional forms of the migration relationship in an attempt to empirically determine how the decision to migrate is formed. [He also compares the] results with those obtained by Courchene...for Canadian interprovincial migration in an effort to compare the effects of international and internal migration on labour market adjustment." It is found that "migration between the United States and Canada over the post-war period is an economic variable. In fact, [a] simple model employing differences in income levels and unemployment rates has been able to explain nearly ninety-five per cent of the variation in the migration rate." The author also notes that "although migration between Canada and the United States does occur in such a way as to aid labour market adjustment, it is not as efficient as internal migration." (summary in FRE, SPA)