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Economic Distress and Labor Market Participation

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  • Stephens, Heather
  • Deskins, John

Abstract

Many of the most deeply and persistently distressed regions of the U.S., such as parts of West Virginia, suffer from extremely low levels of labor force participation. These are regions where economic despair seems to have taken hold for generations and which face numerous other impediments to economic prosperity, such as opioid abuse. Better understanding these linkages can lead to policy solutions to help the most disadvantaged places break the cycle of economic despair. Using county-level data, we begin by estimating a series of models that allow us to understand the drivers of local labor force participation. We also consider how these drivers may differ between rural and urban areas. We then analyze how levels of participation in the labor force are related to other measures of economic distress. We find that there is significant variation in the drivers of rural and urban labor force participation; however, much of the variation can be explained by known factors. Yet, our results also suggest that there remains some portion of the lower levels of labor force participation in West Virginia and Appalachia that cannot be explained by other factors. Since it appears that labor force participation is important to explaining higher levels of employment growth in rural areas, for persistently distressed regions, finding ways to increase labor force participation may be a critical step toward increasing economic prosperity.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephens, Heather & Deskins, John, 2017. "Economic Distress and Labor Market Participation," 2018 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 5-7, 2018, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 266306, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:assa18:266306
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.266306
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    1. Partridge, Mark & Tsvetkova, Alexandra, 2017. "Road to Despair and the Geography of the America Left Behind," 2018 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 5-7, 2018, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 266303, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. J. Paul Elhorst, 2003. "The Mystery of Regional Unemployment Differentials: Theoretical and Empirical Explanations," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(5), pages 709-748, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Amir Borges Ferreira Neto, 2023. "Do public libraries impact local labour markets? Evidence from Appalachia," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 216-238, April.
    2. Zachary T. Keeler & Heather M. Stephens, 2023. "What matters for lagging regions? The role of self‐employment and industrial diversity in distressed areas," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 962-1001, December.
    3. Keeler, Zachary T. & Stephens, Heather M., 2020. "Valuing shale gas development in resource-dependent communities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Partridge, Mark D. & Tsvetkova, Alexandra, 2018. "Local ability to "rewire" and socioeconomic performance: Evidence from US counties before and after the Great Recession," MPRA Paper 89313, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Eduardo Minuci & Scott Schuh, 2022. "Are West Virginia Banks Unique?," Working Papers 22-03, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    6. Samuel Taylor & Heather M. Stephens & Daniel Grossman, 2022. "The opioid crisis and economic distress: Consequences for population change," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 541-577, March.

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