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Is There a Southern-Sclerosis? Worker Reallocation and Regional Unemployment in Italy

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  • Mussida, Chiara

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

  • Pastore, Francesco

    (Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)

Abstract

Theoretical reasoning justifies different signs of the relationship between the local variation in unemployment rates and the extent of workers reallocation. This paper aims to test different theoretical hypotheses in the case of Italy by using the longitudinal files of the Italian labour force survey over the years from 2004 to 2010. We find that labour turnover, as well as inflows and outflows separately, differ significantly at the regional level and are ceteris paribus positively related to the unemployment rate. In addition, we study the determinants of labour turnover across NUTS1 and NUTS2 geographical units and find that it correlates positively with structural change, as measured by the Lilien index, and negatively with the degree of industrial concentration, as measured by the Herfindahl index. Once we control for sectoral shifts and industrial concentration, we note a reduction of between 25 and 40% of the regional gap in labour turnover rates. This general conclusion is robust to the use of different control variables.

Suggested Citation

  • Mussida, Chiara & Pastore, Francesco, 2012. "Is There a Southern-Sclerosis? Worker Reallocation and Regional Unemployment in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 6954, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6954
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    2. Muhammad Rashid Ansari & Chiara Mussida & Francesco Pastore, 2014. "Note on Lilien and modified Lilien index," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 14(2), pages 398-406, June.
    3. F. Pastore, 2015. "The Mezzogiorno and Crisis after Market and State Failures. A Review of Economic Literature," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3-4, pages 525-582.
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    5. Yannis Psycharis & Dimitris Kallioras & Panagiotis Pantazis, 2014. "Economic crisis and regional resilience: detecting the ‘geographical footprint’ of economic crisis in Greece," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 121-141, June.
    6. Francesco Pastore, 2012. "Primum vivere . . . industrial change, job destruction and the geographical distribution of unemployment," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Nam Foo & Ruhul Salim, 2022. "The evolution of mining employment during the resource boom and bust cycle in Australia," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 35(2), pages 309-324, June.
    8. Yannis PSYCHARIS & Antonis ROVOLIS & Vassilis TSELIOS & Panayotis PANTAZIS, 2014. "Economic Crisis And Regional Development In Greece," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 39, pages 67-85.
    9. Pastore, Francesco, 2013. "Primum vivere… Industrial Change, Job Destruction and the Geographical Distribution of Unemployment," IZA Discussion Papers 7126, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Pascal Ricordel, 2024. "Domestic or export: What is basic at the NUTS 2 regional level? A spatial endogenous regional growth model applied in the EU," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    regional unemployment; labour turnover; labour reallocation; structural change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • P25 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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