IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa00p60.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Mystery Of Regional Unemployment Differentialsa Survey Of Theoretical And Empirical Explanations

Author

Listed:
  • Elhorst, J. Paul

Abstract

This paper attempts to provide an integrated overview of theoretical and empirical explanations used in the applied literature on regional unemployment differentials. On the basis of 41 empirical studies, four different model types covering nine theoretical constructs of regional unemployment determination and 13 sets of explanatory variables are identified. The overall conclusion is that theoretical and empirical explanations help to reduce the weaknesses in each other. While theory is found to predict that the regional unemployment rate depends on labour supply factors (a collection of factors which affect natural changes in the labour force, labour force participation, migration and commuting), labour demand factors and wage-setting factors, it is the empirical studies that gain a more profound understanding of the explanatory variables involved. Conversely, whereas most empirical studies provide clear-cut explanations for the signs of the explanatory variables, it is theory that shows that some of these explanations might be out of proportion. By grouping many studies together, this paper shows that there are indeed clear-cut trends.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Elhorst, J. Paul, 2000. "The Mystery Of Regional Unemployment Differentialsa Survey Of Theoretical And Empirical Explanations," ERSA conference papers ersa00p60, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa00p60
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa00/pdf-ersa/pdf/60.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicolaas Groenewold, 1997. "Does Migration Equalise Regional Unemployment Rates? Evidence From Australia," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Abraham, Katharine G & Katz, Lawrence F, 1986. "Cyclical Unemployment: Sectoral Shifts or Aggregate Disturbances?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 507-522, June.
    3. Taylor, Jim & Bradley, Steve, 1994. "Spatial Disparities in the Impact of the 1990-92 Recession: An Analysis of UK Counties," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 56(4), pages 367-382, November.
    4. Bentolila, Samuel, 1997. "Sticky labor in Spanish regions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 591-598, April.
    5. J. Taylor, "undated". "Regional Problems and Policies: An Overview," Working Papers ec27/90, Department of Economics, University of Lancaster.
    6. Todaro, Michael P., 1976. "Urban job expansion, induced migration and rising unemployment : A formulation and simplified empirical test for LDCs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 211-225, September.
    7. Robert J. Gordon, 1984. "Unemployment and Potential Output in the 1980s," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 15(2), pages 537-568.
    8. Ron Martin, 1997. "Regional Unemployment Disparities and their Dynamics," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 237-252.
    9. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173, December.
    10. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-1278, December.
    11. Reza, Ali M, 1978. "Geographical Differences in Earnings and Unemployment Rates," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(2), pages 201-208, May.
    12. repec:bla:econom:v:62:y:1995:i:245:p:123-32 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. J P Elhorst, 1998. "The Nonutilisation of Human Capital in Regional Labour Markets across Europe," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(5), pages 901-920, May.
    14. Prachowny, Martin F J, 1993. "Okun's Law: Theoretical Foundations and Revised Estimates," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(2), pages 331-336, May.
    15. van der Veen, Anne & Evers, Gerard, 1983. "A simultaneous model for regional labor supply, incorporating labor force participation, commuting and migration," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 17(5-6), pages 239-250.
    16. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Lawrence F. Katz, 1992. "Regional Evolutions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 23(1), pages 1-76.
    17. Robert E. Hall, 1972. "Turnover in the Labor Force," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 3(3), pages 709-764.
    18. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Working Papers 722, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    19. Murphy, Kevin J, 1985. "Geographic Differences in U.S. Unemployment Rates: A Variance Decomposition Approach," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(1), pages 135-158, January.
    20. Jaakko Pehkonen & Hannu Tervo, 1998. "Persistence and Turnover in Regional Unemployment Disparities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 445-458.
    21. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 285-299, June.
    22. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 1999. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    23. P G Chapman, "undated". "The Dynamics Of Regional Unemployment In The Uk," Dundee Discussion Papers in Economics 007, Economic Studies, University of Dundee.
    24. Malinvaud,Edmond, 1994. "Diagnosing Unemployment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521445337.
    25. Paldam, Martin, 1987. "How much does one percent of growth change the unemployment rate? : A study of 17 OECD countries, 1948-1985," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 306-313.
    26. Durlauf, Steven N. & Quah, Danny T., 1999. "The new empirics of economic growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 235-308, Elsevier.
    27. D M Hanink, 1988. "Nonintegration of Regional Labor Markets: The Case of Large US Cities from February 1980 through December 1983," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 20(10), pages 1397-1410, October.
    28. James D. Adams, 1985. "Permanent Differences in Unemployment and Permanent Wage Differentials," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(1), pages 29-56.
    29. Pissarides, Christopher A & McMaster, Ian, 1990. "Regional Migration, Wages and Unemployment: Empirical Evidence and Implications for Policy," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(4), pages 812-831, October.
    30. Stephen T. Marston, 1985. "Two Views of the Geographic Distribution of Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(1), pages 57-79.
    31. Holzer, Harry J, 1991. "Employment, Unemployment and Demand Shifts in Local Labor Markets," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(1), pages 25-32, February.
    32. Evans, Philip & McCormick, Barry, 1994. "The New Pattern of Regional Unemployment: Causes and Policy Significance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 633-647, May.
    33. repec:bla:kyklos:v:50:y:1997:i:2:p:221-45 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Bean, Charles R, 1994. "European Unemployment: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 573-619, June.
    35. Olsen, Randall J, 1994. "Fertility and the Size of the U.S. Labor Force," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 60-100, March.
    36. Michelle Baddeley & Ron Martin & Peter Tyler, 1998. "Transitory shock or structural shift? The impact of the early 1980s recession on British regional unemployment," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 19-30.
    37. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
    38. Edward B. Montgomery, 1993. "Pattern in Regional Labor Market Adjustment: The United States vs. Japan," NBER Working Papers 4414, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    39. Lawrence H. Summers, 1986. "Why is the Unemployment Rate So Very High near Full Employment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 17(2), pages 339-396.
    40. Hendry, David F & Mizon, Grayham E, 1978. "Serial Correlation as a Convenient Simplification, not a Nuisance: A Comment on a Study of the Demand for Money by the Bank of England," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 88(351), pages 549-563, September.
    41. Gordon Hughes & Barry McCormick, 1991. "Housing Markets, Unemployment and Labour Market Flexibility in the U.K," NBER Chapters, in: International Volatility and Economic Growth: The First Ten Years of The International Seminar on Macroeconomics, pages 83-114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    42. Mark Partridge & Dan Rickman, 1997. "The Dispersion of US State Unemployment Rates: The Role of Market and Non-market Equilibrium Factors," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 593-606.
    43. I R Gordon & D Lamont, 1982. "A Model of Labour-Market Interdependencies in the London Region," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 14(2), pages 237-264, February.
    44. Lilien, David M, 1982. "Sectoral Shifts and Cyclical Unemployment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(4), pages 777-793, August.
    45. Fleisher, Belton M & Rhodes, George, 1976. "Unemployment and the Labor Force Participation of Married Men and Women: A Simultaneous Model," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 58(4), pages 398-406, November.
    46. D W Owen & A E Gillespie, 1982. "The Changing Relationship between Local and National Unemployment Rates in Northern England, 1971–1980," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 14(2), pages 183-193, February.
    47. Curtis J. Simon, 1988. "Frictional Unemployment and the Role of Industrial Diversity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(4), pages 715-728.
    48. R Dunn, 1982. "Parameter Instability in Models of Local Unemployment Responses," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 14(1), pages 75-94, January.
    49. Burridge, Peter & Gordon, Ian Richard, 1981. "Unemployment in the British Metropolitan Labour Areas," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(2), pages 274-297, July.
    50. repec:fth:prinin:343 is not listed on IDEAS
    51. Hendry, David F., 1995. "Dynamic Econometrics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198283164.
    52. Blackaby, D H & Manning, D N, 1992. "Regional Earnings and Unemployment--A Simultaneous Approach," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 54(4), pages 481-501, November.
    53. Chalmers, James A & Greenwood, Michael J, 1985. "The Regional Labor Market Adjustment Process: Determinants of Changes in Rates of Labor Force Participation, Unemployment, and Migration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 19(1), pages 1-17, March.
    54. Mizon, Grayham E., 1995. "A simple message for autocorrelation correctors: Don't," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 267-288, September.
    55. A. P. Thirlwall, 1989. "Growth and Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-1-349-19837-5, December.
    56. George R. Neumann & Robert H. Topel, 1991. "Employment Risk, Diversification, and Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1341-1365.
    57. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Estimating a Wage Curve for Britain: 1973-90," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(426), pages 1025-1043, September.
    58. P. C. Cheshire & E. S. Mills (ed.), 1999. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    59. Harris, John R & Todaro, Michael P, 1970. "Migration, Unemployment & Development: A Two-Sector Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 126-142, March.
    60. Ghatak, Subrata & Levine, Paul & Price, Stephen Wheatley, 1996. "Migration Theories and Evidence: An Assessment," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 159-198, June.
    61. Jim Taylor & Steve Bradley, 1997. "Unemployment in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Disparities in Germany, Italy and the UK," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 221-245, May.
    62. Frank Brechling, 1967. "Trends And Cycles In British Regional Unemployment," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 1-21.
    63. A. P. Thirlwall, 1966. "Regional Unemployment As A Cyclical Phenomenon1," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 13(2), pages 205-219, June.
    64. Wayne Simpson, 1987. "Workplace Location, Residential Location, and Urban Commuting," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 24(2), pages 119-128, April.
    65. I R Gordon, 1985. "Distributed Lags in Local Responses to Fluctuations in Unemployment," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 17(6), pages 845-856, June.
    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. Böckerman, Petri, 2002. "Understanding Regional Productivity in a Nordic Welfare State: Does ICT Matter?," Discussion Papers 798, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    2. Ulrich Zierahn, 2013. "Agglomeration, congestion, and regional unemployment disparities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 51(2), pages 435-457, October.
    3. Jens Suedekum, 2005. "Increasing returns and spatial unemployment disparities," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(2), pages 159-181, June.
    4. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Gianluigi Coppola, 2005. "The Impact of the Institutions on Regional Unemployment Disparities," CELPE Discussion Papers 98, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    5. Peter Huber & Gabriele Tondl, 2012. "Migration and regional convergence in the European Union," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 439-460, November.
    6. Enrique López-Bazo & Tomás del Barrio & Manuel Artis, 2002. "The regional distribution of Spanish unemployment: A spatial analysis," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 81(3), pages 365-389.
    7. Niebuhr, Annekatrin, 2002. "Spatial dependence of regional unemployment in the European Union," HWWA Discussion Papers 186, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
    8. Ines Murillo & Fernando Núñez & Carlos Usabiaga, 2005. "Differentials and persistence in unemployment - an analysis of the Spanish regions with the highest unemployment rates," ERSA conference papers ersa05p278, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Petri Böckerman & Kari Hämäläinen & Mika Maliranta, 2004. "Sources of Job and Worker Flows: Evidence from a Panel of Regions," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 18(1), pages 105-129, March.
    10. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Gianluigi Coppola, 2006. "The Impact of the Institutions on Regional Unemployment Disparities in Europe," Discussion Papers 4_2006, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    11. Roberto Ezcurra, 2011. "Unemployment Volatility and Regional Specialization in the European Union," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(8), pages 1121-1137.
    12. Hasan Engin Duran, 2015. "Regional Employment Volatility In Turkey: Causes And Consequences," Working Papers 2015/06, Turkish Economic Association.
    13. Michelle Gilmartin & Dimitris Korobilis, 2012. "On Regional Unemployment: An Empirical Examination of the Determinants of Geographical Differentials in the UK," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 59(2), pages 179-195, May.
    14. David C Maré & Wai Kin Choy, 2001. "Regional Labour Market Adjustment and the Movements of People: A Review," Treasury Working Paper Series 01/08, New Zealand Treasury.
    15. Zierahn, Ulrich, 2011. "Regional unemployment and new economic geography," HWWI Research Papers 105, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    16. López-Hernández, Fernando A., 2013. "Second-order polynomial spatial error model. Global and local spatial dependence in unemployment in Andalusia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 270-279.
    17. International Monetary Fund, 2012. "Belgium: Selected Issues Paper," IMF Staff Country Reports 2012/056, International Monetary Fund.
    18. Faisal Khamis, 2012. "Measuring the Spatial Correlation of Unemployment in Iraq-2007," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(1), pages 1-17, January.

    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. repec:dgr:rugsom:00c06 is not listed on IDEAS
    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.
    3. Sarantis LOLOS & Evangelia PAPAPETROU, 2012. "Unemployment disparities and persistence Assessing the evidence from Greek regions, 1981-2008," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 12(1), pages 69-90.
    4. Tangian, Andranik S., 2005. "Composite indicator of German regional policy and its use for optimizing subsidies to regional labour markets," WSI Working Papers 138, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    5. Maria Francesca Cracolici & Miranda Cuffaro & Peter Nijkamp, 2007. "Geographical Distribution of Unemployment: An Analysis of Provincial Differences in Italy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 649-670, December.
    6. Inmaculada Garcia-Mainar & Victor Montuenga-Gomez, 2003. "The Spanish Wage Curve: 1994-1996," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 929-945.
    7. Bill Collier, 2000. "The UK Wage Curve: New Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey," Studies in Economics 0010, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    8. Wouter Vermeulen & Jos Van Ommeren, 2009. "Compensation of Regional Unemployment in Housing Markets," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(301), pages 71-88, February.
    9. Bande, Roberto & Fernández, Melchor & Montuenga, Víctor, 2008. "Regional unemployment in Spain: Disparities, business cycle and wage setting," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 885-914, October.
    10. David Castro Lugo, 2006. "Curva salarial: una aplicación para el caso de México, 1993-2002," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 21(2), pages 233-273.
    11. Ana María Díaz, 2016. "Spatial Unemployment Differentials in Colombia," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, vol. 76, February.
    12. Vicente Rios Ibañez, 2014. "What drives regional unemployment convergence?," ERSA conference papers ersa14p924, European Regional Science Association.
    13. Wouter Vermeulen & J. van Ommeren, 2006. "Compensation of regional unemployment in housing markets," CPB Discussion Paper 57, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    14. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," NBER Working Papers 11338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Adela Nistor, 2009. "Assessing the Effectiveness of Human Capital Investments on the Regional Unemployment Rate in the United States: 1990 and 2000," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 32(1), pages 65-91, January.
    16. Wouter Vermeulen & Jos Van Ommeren, 2009. "Compensation of Regional Unemployment in Housing Markets," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(301), pages 71-88, February.
    17. Partridge, Mark D. & Rickman, Dan S., 1998. "Regional differences in chronic long-term unemployment," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 193-215.
    18. Cameron, G. & Muellbauer, J., 1999. "Earnings, Unemployment, and Housing: Evidence from a Panel of British Regions," Economics Papers 1999-w7, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    19. J.Paul Elhorst, 2005. "Models for Dynamic Panels in Space and Time - an Application to Regional Unemployment in the EU," ERSA conference papers ersa05p81, European Regional Science Association.
    20. Gavin Cameron & John Muellbauer, 2001. "Earnings, unemployment, and housing in Britain," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 203-220.
    21. Mark D. Partridge & Dan S. Rickman & M. Rose Olfert & Ying Tan, 2015. "When Spatial Equilibrium Fails: Is Place-Based Policy Second Best?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1303-1325, August.

    More about this item

    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:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa00p60. 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: Gunther Maier (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ersa.org .

    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.