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Measuring Unemployment by Means of Official Data and Administrative Records: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives

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  • Marco Guerrazzi
  • Ilham Ksebi

Abstract

This paper addresses the measurement of unemployment in the Italian region-al context. Specifically, retrieving data from Tuscany, we compare the picture of unemployment that emerges by exploring official data and administrative records over the period after the burst of the Great Recession. Consistently with previous findings, we find that registered unemployment is higher, more persistent and more concentrated on women than its official measure. Nevertheless, we show that the cyclical behaviour of registered job seekers is similar to the one of official job seekers. Moreover, we provide a way to reconcile the two measures of unemploy-ment. Thereafter, we develop a model that provides a rationale for the coexistence of official and registered job seekers and we explore how it reacts to productivity shocks and its policy implications. Finally, we offer some insights about the desir-ability of an integrated use of these data.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Guerrazzi & Ilham Ksebi, 2019. "Measuring Unemployment by Means of Official Data and Administrative Records: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives," QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(110), pages 17-49.
    • Handle: RePEc:fan:quaqua:v:html10.3280/qua2019-110002
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Guerrazzi, 2020. "Wage and employment determination in a dynamic insider–outsider model," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, January.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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