IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ctc/serie2/dises1180.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The natural rate of unemployment and the unemployment gender gap

Author

Listed:
  • Maurizio Baussola

    (DISCE, Università Cattolica)

  • Chiara Mussida

    (DISCE, Università Cattolica)

Abstract

Recent labour market developments include an increase in labour market mismatches, in that high unemployment rates coexist with significant levels of vacancies. This pattern is particularly evident in the US economy, but is also significant within the European Union; it implies that the natural rate of unemployment may rise significantly, thus suggesting that even if policies aimed at reducing it are implemented, the unemployment rate may remain steady if not increase. An important factor possibly influencing such an increase is related to the gender differential in employment opportunities. This is particularly relevant wherever such a differential represents a structural characteristic of the labour market, as in the case of Italy. The present work focuses on this issue and presents a methodology to decompose the natural rate of unemployment by gender, thus defining it in terms of equilibrium labour market flows between the aggregate states of the labour market (Employment, Unemployment, Non Labour Force). In addition, we propose estimates of the determinants of the unemployment gender gap, in order to pinpoint the relative roles of individual characteristics and structural factors in determining this difference.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurizio Baussola & Chiara Mussida, 2011. "The natural rate of unemployment and the unemployment gender gap," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1180, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1180
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.unicatt.it/dipartimenti/DISES/allegati/dises1180.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2011
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ghazala Azmat & Maia Güell & Alan Manning, 2006. "Gender Gaps in Unemployment Rates in OECD Countries," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(1), pages 1-38, January.
    2. Enrico Fabrizi, 2009. "The Determinants of Labour Market Transitions," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 68(2), pages 233-265, July.
    3. Matteo PICCHIO, 2006. "Temporary Jobs and State Dependence in Italy," Working Papers 272, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    4. Fabio Berton & Francesco Devicienti & Lia Pacelli, 2007. "Temporary jobs: Port of entry, Trap, or just Unobserved Heterogeneity?," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 68, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.
    5. repec:mul:je8794:doi:10.1429/38298:y:2012:i:1:p:103 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Gianna Barbieri & Paolo Sestito, 2008. "Temporary Workers in Italy: Who Are They and Where They End Up," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 22(1), pages 127-166, March.
    7. Mr. Martin Schindler, 2009. "The Italian Labor Market: Recent Trends, Institutions, and Reform Options," IMF Working Papers 2009/047, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Stephen T. Marston, 1976. "Employment Instability and High Unemployment Rates," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 7(1), pages 169-210.
    9. Cameron,A. Colin & Trivedi,Pravin K., 2005. "Microeconometrics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521848053.
    10. Giuseppe Bertola & Pietro Garibaldi, 2003. "The Structure and History of Italian Unemployment," CESifo Working Paper Series 907, CESifo.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maurizio Baussola & Chiara Mussida, 2014. "Transitions in the Labour Market: Discouragement Effect and Individual Characteristics," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(2), pages 209-232, June.
    2. Hugo López Castaño & Francisco Lasso Valderrama, 2015. "Flujos de trabajadores en el mercado laboral colombiano, determinantes de las diferencias entre hombres y mujeres, y futuro laboral esperado," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 88817, Inter-American Development Bank.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chiara Mussida & Carlo Lucarelli, 2014. "Dynamics and Performance of the Italian Labour Market," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 33-54.
    2. Maurizio Baussola & Chiara Mussida, 2014. "Transitions in the Labour Market: Discouragement Effect and Individual Characteristics," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(2), pages 209-232, June.
    3. Sara Flisi & Marcello Morciano, 2011. "Trends and dynamics in the Italian labour market. An empirical evaluation using RFL data, 1993-2007," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0091, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    4. Maurizio Baussola & Jamie Jenkins & Chiara Mussida & Matthew Penfold, 2015. "The Unemployment Gender Gap in a Comparative Perspective," Discussion Papers 5_2015, CRISEI, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    5. Luca Zanin & Raffaella Calabrese, 2017. "Interaction effects of region-level GDP per capita and age on labour market transition rates in Italy," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-29, December.
    6. Niall O’Higgins, 2011. "Italy: Limited Policy Responses and Industrial Relations in Flux, Leading to Aggravated Inequalities," Chapters, in: Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead (ed.), Work Inequalities in the Crisis, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Luis Eduardo Arango & Ana María Ríos, 2015. "Duración del desempleo en Colombia: género, intensidad de búsqueda y anuncios de vacantes," BORRADORES DE ECONOMIA 012528, BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA.
    8. Chiara Mussida & Matteo Picchio, 2014. "The trend over time of the gender wage gap in Italy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 1081-1110, May.
    9. Bosio, Giulio, 2008. "Labour market transition in Italy: an empirical investigation," MPRA Paper 18901, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Leombruni Roberto & Mosca Michele, 2013. "The lifetime gender gap in Italy. Does the pension system countervail labour market outcomes?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201302, University of Turin.
    11. Chiara Mussida & Matteo Picchio, 2014. "The gender wage gap by education in Italy," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(1), pages 117-147, March.
    12. Ainaa, Carmen & Brunetti, Irene & Mussida, Chiara & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "Who lost the most? Distributive effects of COVID-19 pandemic," GLO Discussion Paper Series 829, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Chiara Mussida & Dario Sciulli, 2016. "The trend over time of labour market opportunities for young people in Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 33(2), pages 291-321, August.
    14. Alberto Cazzola & Lucia Pasquini & Aurora Angeli, 2016. "The relationship between unemployment and fertility in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 34(1), pages 1-38.
    15. Enrico Fabrizi, 2009. "The Determinants of Labour Market Transitions," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 68(2), pages 233-265, July.
    16. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore, 2009. "Le cause del(l') (in)successo lavorativo dei giovani," Economia & lavoro, Carocci editore, issue 3, pages 107-107.
    17. O'Higgins, Niall, 2012. "This Time It's Different? Youth Labour Markets During 'The Great Recession'," IZA Discussion Papers 6434, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Roberto Leombruni & Michele Mosca, 2011. "The lifetime gender gap in Italy. Do the pension system countervails labour market outcomes?," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 113, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.
    19. Chiara Mussida & Matteo Picchio, 2014. "The gender wage gap by education in Italy," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(1), pages 117-147, March.
    20. Fabio Berton, 2008. "The (long) run out of unemployment: are temporary jobs the shortest way?," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 76, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment gender gap; differentials; multinomial models; transition probability matrix.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Francesco Timpano (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dscatit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.