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Unemployment Flow Regimes and Regional Unemployment Disparities

Author

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  • R Martin

    (Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN, England)

  • P Sunley

    (Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, Scotland)

Abstract

Almost all studies of regional and local unemployment are concerned with unemployment stock rates. In this paper, attention is focused on the unemployment flows behind these stocks. By using data for the British regions over the 1980s and 1990s, we show that regional unemployment-rate disparities are a direct reflection of different underlying regional unemployment ‘flow regimes’; that is, different patterns of inflows into, and outflows from, unemployment. In the 1980s these differences in regional flow regime were marked, but since the beginning of the 1990s they have narrowed. In addition, there appear to have been distinct ‘switches’ in regime in particular regions. These trends and shifts are considered alongside the debates surrounding the end of the ‘north—south’ unemployment divide in Britain; the claim that the British labour market is moving towards a US-style flexible, high-unemployment-turnover model; and the effects of various changes to the unemployment benefit system designed to restrict the numbers of claimants on that system.

Suggested Citation

  • R Martin & P Sunley, 1999. "Unemployment Flow Regimes and Regional Unemployment Disparities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 31(3), pages 523-550, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:31:y:1999:i:3:p:523-550
    DOI: 10.1068/a310523
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Donald Houston, 2020. "Local resistance to rising unemployment in the context of the COVID‐19 mitigation policies across Great Britain," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(6), pages 1189-1209, December.
    2. John Adams & Malcolm Greig & Ronald W. McQuaid, 2001. "Are Spatially Focused Initiatives in Current Economic Inclusion Policies Well Founded?," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 16(3), pages 236-248, August.
    3. Christina Beatty & Stephen Fothergill, 2005. "The diversion from 'unemployment' to 'sickness' across British regions and districts," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(7), pages 837-854.
    4. 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.
    5. Enrique Lopez-Bazo & Tomas Del Barrio & Manuel Artis, 2005. "Geographical distribution of unemployment in Spain," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 305-318.
    6. Zhongmin Wu & Shujie Yao, 2006. "On Unemployment Inflow and Outflow in Urban China," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(8), pages 811-822.
    7. Robert Dixon, 2007. "Regional Differences in the Severity of Recessions in the UK," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1009, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Robert Dixon & Guay Lim, 2016. "Modelling the dynamics of regional employment–population ratios and their commonality," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(2), pages 338-354, February.
    9. Enrique López-Bazo & Elisabet Motellón, 2013. "The regional distribution of unemployment: What do micro-data tell us?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(2), pages 383-405, June.
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    11. Inmaculada Garcia-Mainar & Victor Montuenga-Gomez, 2003. "The Spanish Wage Curve: 1994-1996," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 929-945.

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