The Relationship of Economic Growth with Employment, Unemployment and Youth Unemployment in the Balkan Countries : An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

High unemployment and deterioration of employment conditions are considered as the main problems of labour markets in the world economy. The issue of youth unemployment, which has been frequently discussed recently, is also a central labour market problem. Today, many developed and developing countries are experiencing these problems. The situation in the Balkan countries is not different. International economic reports show that many of Balkan youths face unemployment problem and this results in young people migrating from their countries. In this context, the aim of the study is to research the relationship of economic growth with employment, unemployment and youth unemployment by considering the seven Balkan countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia). In the study, 1996-2017 period data was used and the bootstrap panel Granger causality test proposed by Konya (2006) has been chosen as the econometric method. The findings of the analysis indicate that the economic growth is related with employment, unemployment and youth unemployment in the mentioned Balkan countries.