Urban unemployment and labor force participation in Korea

This paper examines urban unemployment patterns in Korea using a simultaneous model of unemployment and labor force participation. Urban demographic characteristics and economic conditions are put forward to explain inter-urban variations in the rates of unemployment and labor force participation. The estimation results indicate the importance of local demographic characteristics and economic conditions in determining labor force participation rates and unemployment rates. The results clearly indicate that sexual dualism is pervasive in the urban labor market in Korea. Market discrimination against women is quite evident. The effect of city size seems to be insignificant except that large cities tend to provide a more favorable environment for women to participate in the labor force.     

Decomposing regional growth: Labor force participation rates, structural changes, and sectoral factor reallocation

Most studies on convergence analyze the dynamics of per capita income, instead of the theoretically more appropriate product per worker (PPW). This study deals with the latter, providing information on the dynamics of the production of spatial units (countries or regions), net of the dynamics of labor force participation rates. It also assesses the contribution of different sectors to economic growth dynamics, stressing the role of sectoral structure changes to the dynamics of PPW, bringing into the convergence debate some ideas from the economic development literature. Thirdly, the possible influence to economic growth of factor reallocation among sectors is analyzed. Empirical evidence for the case of Brazilian states is offered.     

Determinants of regional female labour market participation in the Netherlands

The paper analyses the determinants of female labour participation. Structural equation modelling is used to handle theoretical concepts and to solve the typical problem of multicollinearity. The proposed methodology is applied to a dataset for the year 2002 made up of a sample of 278 municipalities in the Netherlands. The structural model and measurement model of the latent variables are estimated simultaneously by means of maximum likelihood. Model estimation and tests are performed using LISREL. Female participation is found to be positively influenced by the added-worker effect and negatively by the discouraged worker effect. The results show a negative impact of demographic pressure and a positive impact of socio-economic status and female-dominated sector structure.     

Metropolitan migration and labor market changes by industry

The purpose of this paper is to analyze gross metropolitan migration of persons employed in selected two-digit industries. An empirically testable model was developed for migration, employment change, and earnings change and implemented using data from the Social Security Administration's ten percent Continuous Work History Sample. The results showed that a significant percentage of the migration flows can be explained by the variables in the model, and notes differences across industries. Specifically, differences in cyclic and structural economic variables are noted in terms of their importance across the specified industries. The public policy implications of these results are identified.Financial support from the Office of Policy and Planning, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor is gratefully acknowledged. However, any opinions are solely those of the author. The author would like to thank Michael Greenwood, Vernon Renshaw, and Burman Skrabble for several helpful comments. In addition, I would like to thank David Cartwright, Bruce Levine, Esther Schroeder, and Jim Woods for their valuable assistance with the data base.     

Labor market frictions,agglomeration, and regional unemployment disparities

This paper constructs a footloose entrepreneur model with Diamond–Mortensen–Pissarides job search and matching frictions in the manufacturing sector. It captures unemployment adjustment both within the manufacturing sector and in the regional labor market. The within-sector unemployment rate is negatively affected by firm market access and is positively related to the intensity of firm screening among heterogeneous candidate workers. The regional unemployment rate, on the other hand, is related to the sectoral share of job searching across sectors within each region. We find the coexistence of a smaller within-sector unemployment rate and a larger local unemployment rate in the region with firm agglomeration. We also extend the analysis by examining the role of labor market frictions across sectors and the interdependence between agglomeration and unemployment.     

Migration and regional labor market adjustment: Chile 1977–1982 and 1987–1992

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the migration processes that have been occurring in Chile between 1977–1982 and 1987–1992, as a market mechanism to re-allocate labor among regions. Using traditional consumer theory, a model is developed for a migrant who is evaluating migration. Secondly, this model is estimated, with cross section aggregate data, for both periods using a logit formulation. The results indicate that there is a strong force in the Chilean regional labor market, which serves to concentrate the workforce around the largest populated region of the country. Finally, regional labor markets are simulated to show that migration forces are very weak to arbitrage regional wages and unemployment rate and specific policy is required to promote balanced development across Chilean regions. Received: January 1999/Accepted: August 2001     

Labor force mobility in the United States: migration,unemployment, and remigration

"This study examines the relationships between pre- and post-move unemployment and interstate migration of the United States labor force for the period 1965 to 1970. Multivariate analyses are conducted for several large occupation groups. The results indicate a strong link between unemployment and migration. Unemployment increases migration possibilities for each large occupation group considered. Substantial post-move unemployment exists, but there is a significant link between migration and such unemployment only for blue-collar workers who are repeat migrants."     

Factor prices,non-neutral technical change and regional variations in unemployment rates

This paper provides empirical results which indicate that in the Canadian case regional output and employment sensitivity are not closely associated. The result suggests that causes other than demand variability between regions may explain employment sensitivity differences. A comprehensive theoretical construct based upon regional factor intensity differences in production was developed as an alternative explanation of employment sensitivities to those based simply on regional differences in demand elasticities, efficiencies of technology parameters, or the failure of some regions to efficiently allocate factors of production in accordance with their price ratios.     

Transition and unemployment in Central Europe: How redundant workers fare in regional labor markets

This study analyses whether redundant workers are stigmatized in regional labor markets, and if so, examines the severity of the effects. Stigmatization, possibly an outcome of statistical discrimination, is assumed to obtain whenever likelihoods of long-term unemployment are systematically elevated among otherwise equivalent individuals, due to involuntary job-loss. Such effects are considered during early transition in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Poland, and within a modeling framework whereby current search duration (likelihood of long-term unemployment) and benefit receipt are jointly-determined. Although econometric estimates of long-term unemployment indicate significant and persistent stigmatization within the Slovak Republic and Poland; underlying causation apparently differs between countries. Received: 8 March, 2001 / Accepted: 19 December 2001 RID="*" ID"*"The authors wishes to thank the Luxembourg Employment Study (LES) for providing access to the five labor force surveys upon which this study is based, and is especially appreciative of assistance provided, on multiple occasions, by Elena Bardasi (former LES Coordinator). Appreciation is also extended to three anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions.     

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.     

The cost of living,labor market opportunities,and the migration decision: A case of misspecification?

A large literature has emerged dealing with the economic and non-economic determinants of migration. Among the economic determinants of migration are income levels and rates of change in income in different areas. These variables are designed to measure labor market opportunities both currently and in the future. Invariably, studies which attempt to explain migration utilizenominal measures of income and change in income, notreal measures. Yet assuming that individuals are not subject to money illusion, they would be interested in cost of living information as well as in information regarding nominal income and change in income. This paper examines this issue empirically. We demonstrate that some cost of living variables, when included in a migration equation, enter with the expected sign and are statistically significant. We also demonstrate the failure to include such variables in a regression results in misspecification and bias involving some of the variables in the regression.They wish to thank Professor Mark Fabrycy for helpful suggestions. They also thank their graduate research assistants, Bobbie Sheperd, Alison Zatik and John Breivogel, for data collection and computational assistance. They authors alone are responsible for any remaining shortcomings.     

Regional labor force participation and the discouraged worker hypothesis: Some empirical evidence

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the economic determination of the regional labor supply. In explaining the regional level of labor force participation two models are compared: the unemployment model based on the discouraged worker hypothesis and the neoclassical model of labor force participation. It is shown that a migration model complements the neoclassical model and provides an alternative interpretation of the discouraged worker hypothesis, this reinterpretation provides an explanation for the failure of the unemployment model at the regional level when it is quite successful at the national level.