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Growth, unemployment and labour market institutions: evidence from a cross-section of EU regions

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  • Helmut Herwartz
  • Annekatrin Niebuhr

Abstract

The responsiveness of unemployment to growth is an issue of ongoing political and academic interest. Economic growth is supposed to be the key to increase labour demand and reduce unemployment. Departing from Okun's law, most research on the unemployment intensity of growth has focused on national disparities and the role of labour market institutions. Empirical evidence at the regional level is scarce. We investigate differences in regional labour market responsiveness and their potential determinants for a cross section of European regions. The data set covers the NUTS 2 regions in the EU15 for the period 1980 to 2002. Following a spatial modelling approach interaction among neighbouring labour markets is taken into account. Our findings point to substantial differences in labour market effects of output growth among European countries and regions. Both national labour market institutions and regional characteristics, such as structural change explain a significant part of these disparities.

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  • Helmut Herwartz & Annekatrin Niebuhr, 2011. "Growth, unemployment and labour market institutions: evidence from a cross-section of EU regions," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(30), pages 4663-4676.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:43:y:2011:i:30:p:4663-4676
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2010.493142
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    Cited by:

    1. Vicente Rios Ibañez, 2014. "What drives regional unemployment convergence?," ERSA conference papers ersa14p924, European Regional Science Association.
    2. Bande, Roberto & Martín-Román, Ángel, 2018. "Regional differences in the Okun’s Relationship: New Evidence for Spain (1980-2015)," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 41, pages 137-165.
    3. Roger, Perman & Jean-Philippe, Boussemart & Walter, Briec & Christophe, Tavéra, 2013. "How do technical change and technological distance influence the size of the Okun’s Law coefficient?," SIRE Discussion Papers 2013-60, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    4. Robert Dixon & G. C. Lim & Jan C. van Ours, 2017. "Revisiting the Okun relationship," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(28), pages 2749-2765, June.
    5. Lino P. Briguglio & Melchior Vella, 2015. "Labour demand in the EU and returns to scale: A production function approach," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 1103-1116, December.
    6. Marianna Oliskevych, 2015. "Dynamic Analysis and Modeling of the Labor Market Development in Ukraine," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 5(2), pages 127-135, April.
    7. Herwartz, Helmut & Niebuhr, Annekatrin, 2011. "Regional labor demand and national labor market institutions in the EU15," HWWI Research Papers 112, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    8. Ángel L. Martín‐Román & Jaime Cuéllar‐Martín & Alfonso Moral, 2023. "Natural and cyclical unemployment: A stochastic frontier decomposition and economic policy implications," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 5-39, January.
    9. Simon Schumacher & Stephan Paul, 2017. "Capital Markets Union – Promising Prospects for Corporate Financing?," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 18(3), pages 289-304, August.
    10. Nedra Baklouti & Younes Boujelbene, 2018. "The Nexus Between Democracy and Economic Growth: Evidence from Dynamic Simultaneous-Equations Models," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(3), pages 980-998, September.
    11. Vakulenko, Elena, 2015. "Analysis of the relationship between regional labour markets in Russia using Okun’s model," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 40(4), pages 28-48.
    12. Maria Sylvina PORRAS‐ARENA & Ángel L. MARTÍN‐ROMÁN, 2023. "The correlation between unemployment and economic growth in Latin America – Okun's law estimates by country," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(2), pages 171-198, June.
    13. Porras-Arena, M. Sylvina & Martín-Román, Ángel L., 2023. "The heterogeneity of Okun's law: A metaregression analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    14. Rini Efrianti & Taufiq Marwa & Nurlina Tarmizi & Saadah Yuliana, 2018. "Growth, Unemployment And Its Implication On Poverty: Empirical Study In Districts/Cities Of South Sumatera Province," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 6(4), pages 27-37.
    15. KARGI, Bilal, 2014. "Okun’s Law and Long Term Co-Integration Analysis for OECD Countries (1987-2012)," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 119, pages 77-85.
    16. Schubert, Stefan F. & Turnovsky, Stephen J., 2018. "Growth and unemployment: Short-run and long-run tradeoffs," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 172-189.
    17. Francisco Javier Escribá-Pérez & María José Murgui-García, 2018. "Technology catching-up and regulation in European regions," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 95-109, February.
    18. Helmut Herwartz & Annekatrin Niebuhr, 2017. "Regional Labor Market Performance in Europe," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 40(3), pages 270-296, May.
    19. Porras, María Sylvina & Martín-Román, Ángel L., 2017. "Self-employment and Okun’s Law relationship: the Spanish case," MPRA Paper 83292, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Porras-Arena, M. Sylvina & Martín-Román, Ángel L., 2019. "Self-employment and the Okun's law," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 253-265.
    21. Celia Melguizo, 2017. "An analysis of Okun’s law for the Spanish provinces," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 37(1), pages 59-90, February.
    22. Agung Suwandaru & Thamer Alghamdi & Nurwanto Nurwanto, 2021. "Empirical Analysis on Public Expenditure for Education and Economic Growth: Evidence from Indonesia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-13, October.
    23. Nguyen Hoang Quy, 2016. "Relationship between Economic Growth, Unemployment and Poverty: Analysis at Provincial Level in Vietnam," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(12), pages 113-119, December.
    24. Oberst, Christian & Oelgemöller, Jens, 2013. "Economic Growth and Regional Labor Market Development in German Regions: Okun’s Law in a Spatial Context," FCN Working Papers 5/2013, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).

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