Differences In Unemployment Rates Research Articles

A Spatial Analysis of the Relationship between IT Jobs and Regions in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has vast area with sprawling regions. As a result of diversification of kingdom's land-use (such as agriculture, residential, commercial and industrial), the employment opportunities are varied from one region to another. Saudi Arabia struggles with both high aggregate unemployment rates and persistent regional unemployment rate differentials. In this paper, we focus on Saudis’ male and female job seekers who imposes IT certifications or capabilities and sectors either public or private which provide IT job opportunities in Saudi’s regions. Using GIS-based analysis, in this research, we attend to examining spatial distributions of IT jobs and IT jobs seeker, and analyze relationship between IT jobs and Saudi’s regions in order to help both IT job seekers and providers to identify their destination for fill or provide suitable job vacancies and alleviate unemployment. This research shows that the regions with high residential density are highly centralized IT jobs and IT job seekers.

The problems and perspectives of the labour market development in Serbia on national and regional level

The paper deals with the analysis of inter-regional differences in unemployment rates, including an assessment of changes in local labour markets in the 2010s. Comparison of statistics related to the labour market development exclusively at the national level does not allow a complete overview of the employment problems. Based on the available data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, we have compiled three maps that give a visual representation of the unemployment in municipalities in Serbia. The first map demonstates the share of the unemployed in the total population of municipalities at the beginning of 2018 (taking into account the qualification structure of the unemployed population). The second map reveals the dynamics of unemployment rates in municipalities (value ratio for 2018 and 2010). Finally, the third map reflects the authors' vision of regionalization of the unemployment phenomenon in Serbia, expressed in identifying spatial configurations that differ in labour market characteristics. The regionalization of the phenomenon of unemployment in Serbia has enabled the identification of the most and least successful territories in terms of maintaining stability in the labour market. In addition, we highlighted the existing problems of the labour market, emphasized the importance of implementation of employment policies and inclusion in this process of all societal structures, starting with the state, local authorities, private and public sectors in order to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Distribuição de qualificações profissionais e disparidade regional de desemprego na Hungria

In this paper we address the empirical question whether the skill distribution of regions has a permanent effect on regional unemployment rates. We argue that if technology and skill are complements and workers with different skills are poor substitutes, the uneven spatial distribution of human capital plays an important role in shaping regional unemployment rate differentials. When the adaption and application of technology need skilled workers, the inflow of technology raises the skill premium and attract skilled workers, which in turn also ameliorate low-skilled unemployment, if skilled and unskilled workers are not perfect substitutes in the production process, or the higher share of skilled workers in the traded sector increase the demand for unskilled labor in the local non-traded sector. Empirical evidence from the Hungarian post-socialist transition confirms the hypothesis that the uneven distribution of skills inherited from the socialist era had a major and permanent influence on the emergence of regional unemployment disparities, which prevailed even after the end of transition through the inward flow of technology through FDI and the spatial concentration of economic activity. Regression estimates show that the share of college educated individuals has a strong negative effect on regional unemployment. However this is not only the result of the initially lower risk of unemployment among college educated individuals but also the complementarity between different skill levels. Separate estimates on skill-specific unemployment rates show that an increase in the percentage share of college graduates abates the unemployment rate of lower skilled workers.

Low Risk of Unemployment, Sick Leave, and Work Disability Among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A 7-year Follow-up Study of a Danish Inception Cohort.

To assess the occurrence and risk of unemployment (UE), sick leave (SL), and work disability (WD) in incident patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) after 7 years of follow-up compared with the background population and to determine outcome predictors. The study population consisted of patients aged 18 to 67 years (N = 379) from an IBD inception cohort registered January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004 in the Copenhagen area. Clinical data were retrospectively collected from medical records. Data on UE, SL, and WD were retrieved from national registries. A random subset of the general population (n = 1435) were matched with IBD cases based on sex, age, and residency. The cumulative probabilities of UE, SL, and WD were calculated. A Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to identify possible outcome predictors. There was no difference in UE rates between patients with IBD and controls (P = 0.23). The risk of SL was significantly increased in patients with IBD (hazard ratio 2.0; 95% confidence interval 1.7-2.4). Patients with IBD showed a higher risk of WD (hazard ratio 2.1; 95% confidence interval 1.2-3.8), particularly male patients older than 55 years. The rate of WD in CD (5.8%) was markedly lowered compared with previous studies. Within the IBD population, sex, educational level, disease behavior, smoking status, and surgery were predictors of UE, SL, and WD. The observed increased risk of SL and WD in patients with IBD underscores the need for the early identification of risk factors. A multidisciplinary approach to secure IBD patients' participation in the labor market is recommended.

Disentangling the Role of Migrants' Educational Level in the Long-Run Italian Internal Migration Trends

Previous studies on Italian internal migration have shown that income differentials are more effective than unemployment differentials in driving interregional reallocation of population across regions. In this paper we follow the macroeconomic empirical literature on migration and test the role that has been played by relative per capita GDP and relative unemployment rate differentials in shaping long-run internal migration. In addition, we split total migration into high- and low-skilled net migration and highlight the different patterns of these two variables in the long-run trends. Finally, we extend the model and introduce population age structure and population density. Different from almost all existing literature, we investigate the dynamic characteristics of the series and study interregional migration inside a cointegration framework.JEL Classification: J11, J61, R23

Is Sectoral Diversification a Solution to Unemployment? Evidence from EU Regions#

SummaryThere is a growing interest in the academic and policy making communities in understanding the effects of sectoral specialisation on labour market performance. The existing empirical evidence, mainly based on US data, generally finds a positive correlation between sectoral specialisation and labour market indicators such as wages and unemployment. The policy implication one can draw from these results is that fostering sectoral diversification may reduce unemployment. However, this lesson may not hold for all countries. In particular, in the case of Europe, the diversity of labour market institutions may play a distinct role in shaping the relationship between sectoral specialisation and labour market performance.In this paper, we investigate the relationship between regional sectoral specialisation and regional unemployment rate in the context of different collective bargaining institutions in the EU countries. We find that collective bargaining institutions do play a role in shaping the unemployment rate differentials across regions belonging to the same country. Furthermore, the relationship between regional specialisation and the regional unemployment rate is stronger in countries with intermediate and decentralised collective bargaining institutions in comparison to countries with centralised collective bargaining institutions.Our results suggest that labour market institutions are likely to influence the outcome of policies aiming at fostering regional diversification. While such policies may result in reducing regional unemployment in countries with decentralised and intermediate levels of collective bargaining, they may not make a big difference in countries with centralised collective bargaining institutions.

Internal Migration Determinants: Recent Evidence

The present study investigates the impact on gross state in-migration over the 1999–2002 period of a variety of economic and non-economic factors. The empirical estimates indicate that gross state in-migration was an increasing function of expected per capita income on the one hand or actual per capita income on the other hand and a decreasing function of the average cost of living. Interstate unemployment rate differentials per se do not appear to have influenced gross migration, however. In addition, gross state in-migration was an increasing function of the availability of state parks, recreation, warmer temperatures, location in the West, and greater sunshine while being a decreasing function of the violent crime rate and the presence of hazardous waste sites.

The current state of the labor queue: National and regional Evidence

We employ vector autoregressive techniques to determine the current state of the labor queue. Unemployment rate differentials have narrowed in recent years, potentially due to a change in the queue ordering, though a tight labor market and a stable queue would yield similar results. We find no evidence that the queue ordering has changed, which brings into question the resiliency of gains made by minority groups. We employ the same techniques to reveal the state of the queue across geographic regions and find that substantial differences exist across regions, implying variation in the relative labor force status of demographic groups.

Can skill-biased technological change compress unemployment rate differentials across education groups?

Our aim is to explain why the pattern of relative unemployment rates by education groups was non monotonic in most of the OECD countries. In a two-sector matching model, a simple unexpected productivity shock biased against unskilled labor can replicate the observed dynamics. Demographic effects of skill-biased shocks can be related to inequality in the distribution of wealth.

Regional unemployment rate differentials and mobility of the unemployed

This study uses a longitudinal data set of administrative records to investigate geographical mobility among unemployment benefit recipients in Australia, focusing on the role of regional differences in employment opportunity and housing costs. Two statistical approaches are used. The first is to model the probability that a benefit recipient changes region within a 12‐month period, with measures of employment opportunity and housing costs in the “home” region included among the explanatory variables. The second models flows between regions, with the regional differentials included among the regressors. Rather than providing evidence that unemployed persons move to areas of higher employment opportunity, the results are suggestive of poverty traps in which the unemployed move to areas of lower living costs and hence lower employment opportunity. There is some evidence of negative incentive effects of unemployment benefit levels on mobility, but this is difficult to ascertain due to the limited variation in that variable.

State Unemployment Differentials: Equilibrium Factors vs. Differential Employment Growth

: Differentials in U.S. state unemployment rates were persistent in the early 1990s. In addition, states with higher employment growth did not necessarily have the lowest unemployment rates. Thus, this paper examines the differentials in U.S. state unemployment rates from 1992 to 1994, decomposing them into the parts that were due to differences in recent employment growth, and those that were due to longer-term equilibrium factors. Also, using the shift-share model, employment growth differences are decomposed into an industry mix component and a competitiveness component. The decomposition of the 1992 to 1994 unemployment rate differentials is based on an econometric equation estimated using panel data from 1972 to 1991. Explanatory equilibrium factors included in the model are amenities, demographic characteristics, education, industry composition, labor mobility, and wage rates.

Sticky labor in Spanish regions

Migration among Spanish regions has fallen significantly since the 1970s, in spite of large and widening regional unemployment rate differentials. In this paper I argue that this evolution is the result of: a large increase in the national unemployment rate; the reduction in regional dispersion in other economic variables, due in part to important institutional changes since 1975; and the rise of migration from richer to poorer regions, or affluent migration.

Spatial variations in U.S. unemployment

Interstate unemployment rate differentials are large, tend to persist, and have not converged in recent times. The interstate differential in the natural rate of unemployment seems partially explained by several factors related to labor costs, including wage rates and such institutional factors as unionization, welfare, and probably tax policy. Differential welfare incidence may explain the black-white unemployment differential. Variations in intertemporal fluctuations in unemployment across states seem related to institutionalized wage rigidity caused by such factors as unions and welfare. For still unexplained reasons, unemployment tends to be higher in the West, deep South, and the industrial Midwest.

Spain: Unemployment, Debt Management, and Interest Rate Differentials

Spain: Unemployment, Debt Management, and Interest Rate Differentials

The Response of Wages and Labor Supply Movements to Employment Shocks Across Europe and the United States

This paper assesses the responsiveness of wages and labor force movements to employment shocks across British and U.S regions and across Europe using a multivariate vector autoregression technique. The paper finds inflexible real wages in all three areas in that each area`s real wage responds very little to employment shocks. However, the response of the labor force to employment shocks is much greater in the United States compared to Europe. The strong labor force response in the United States prevents any persistence in relative regional unemployment rates whereas the lack of mobility in Europe results in persistent unemployment rate differentials across British regions and European nations. Europe must therefore adopt measures to reduce barriers to immobility if it is to succeed in moderating the persistence in relative unemployment rates.

Regional Differentials in Unemployment Rates: The Economic Causes

Abstract. Recent studies on the causes that bring about the increase in unemployment rates of the Mezzogiorno area and Italy are mainly based upon demographic and social causes. The aim of this study is to verify if they can be also influenced by economic factors. Through a dynamic model with partial adaptive hypothesis, some ways by which demand affects the differences of regional unemployment rates has been tested. In this respect it has been considered whether variations in economic activity can lead to different growth rates of regional production owing to the different industrial structures; whether the employers are influenced by local factors in varying the occupation when the production increases, and finally in which way the regional unemployment rate depends on the excess of desired, over effective, labour demand.Data base are from 1959 to 1976, and the unemployment rate is referred only to unemployed workers that is the better proxy of the unemployment connected with the economic cycle. The results show a slight reactiveness to demand, both in industrial labour demand and supply in the Mezzogiorno.

A Sydney and Melbourne comparison of intra‐urban differentials in unemployment rates

This article reports on multiple regression analyses of unemployment rates in the local government areas of Sydney and Melbourne which show that the spatial inequalities in unemployment risks may be greater in Sydney than in Melbourne. It explores the reasons for the difference and their implications for future trends in spatial inequalities.

Two Views of the Geographic Distribution of Unemployment

This paper investigates the extent to which equilibrium and disequilibrium explanations can account for unemployment rate differentials between cities. It shows that shocks that disturb the steady-state relationship among the unemployment rates of metropolitan areas tend to be eliminated by mobility within a single year. It also shows that high unemployment areas tend to be those with attractive climates and amenities, high wages, and high unemployment insurance. It argues that the main effect of government programs that create jobs in high unemployment areas will be to lure additional job seekers to those areas.

Labor market efficiency and the dynamic behavior of regional unemployment differentials

In dynamic complex economies where unemployment is never zero, relative economic opportunities can be greatly effected by how evenly unemployment is distributed throughout the economy. Accordingly, a study of the temporal behavior of geographic differentials in unemployment rates will yield useful information about how well the labor market performs its resource allocation function. Using spectral methods, this paper tests the competitive theory predictions concerning the dynamic behavior of regional unemployment differentials. While there is evidence that unemployment rates tend to equalize, the results of this study indicate that it is a slow process in which competitive forces are relatively weak. As a result, the secular shift in employment growth from the North to the South and West has been the source of long run regional unemployment differences.

Sex Differentials in Unemployment Rates: A Case for No Concern

This paper reevaluates the concept of unemployment in the context of differing labor market and nonmarket opportunities for men and women, discussing common fallacies in female to male unemployment rate comparisons and their use as an indicator of labor market equality. Suggestive empirical evidence is presented for an alternative unemployment rate concept for women, for interpreting the procyclical variation in female to male unemployment rate differentials, and for decomposing unemployment differences into differences in labor market characteristics and in behavioral coefficients for the two sexes. The paper concludes that a large part of the observed unemployment rate differential may be attributed to the definition and methodology used in deriving unemployment statistics rather than to discrimination in productive opportunities.