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The dynamics of the Italian labour force participation rate: determinants and implications for the employment and unemployment rate

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  • Marta De Philippis

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

This work analyzes the evolution of the labour force participation rate in Italy, as compared with the other main euro-area countries in the last decade. It breaks down the dynamics of the activity rate into the portion due to changes in the average socio-demographic characteristics of the population and that related to within socio-demographic group variations in the probability of participating. The results show that the main drivers of the increase in Italy�s participation rate are structural and long-lasting: they are mostly related to the rise in the population�s share of highly-educated individuals, who are more strongly attached to the labour market, and to the positive labour supply effects of the recent pension reforms. In the decade ahead, while socio-demographic forces are expected to stop providing a positive push to the aggregate activity rate, due to the ageing of the particularly numerous cohort of individuals born in the 1960s, the increase in the labour supply of women and of the elderly will continue to boost the overall labour force participation rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta De Philippis, 2017. "The dynamics of the Italian labour force participation rate: determinants and implications for the employment and unemployment rate," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 396, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_396_17
    as

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    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2017-0396/QEF_396_17.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nucci, Francesco & Riggi, Marianna, 2018. "Labor force participation, wage rigidities, and inflation," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 274-292.
    2. Shigeru Fujita & Garey Ramey, 2009. "The Cyclicality Of Separation And Job Finding Rates," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 50(2), pages 415-430, May.
    3. Effrosyni Adamopoulou & Giulia Martina Tanzi, 2017. "Academic Drop-Out and the Great Recession," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 35-71.
    4. Daniel Aaronson & Jonathan Davis & Luojia Hu, 2012. "Explaining the decline in the U.S. labor force participation rate," Chicago Fed Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Mar.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fiaschi, Davide & Tealdi, Cristina, 2023. "The attachment of adult women to the Italian labour market in the shadow of COVID-19," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Jasmine Mondolo, 2021. "Macroeconomic dynamics and the role of market power. The case of Italy," DEM Working Papers 2021/17, Department of Economics and Management.
    3. Mondolo, Jasmine, 2020. "Macro and microeconomic evidence on investment, factor shares, firm and labor dynamics in Italy and in Trentino," MPRA Paper 99138, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Josué Diwambuena & Francesco Ravazzolo, 2022. "What are the drivers of Labor Productivity?," BEMPS - Bozen Economics & Management Paper Series BEMPS86, Faculty of Economics and Management at the Free University of Bozen.
    5. Gaetano Basso, 2019. "The evolution of the occupational structure in Italy in the last decade," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 478, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    6. Brand, Claus & Obstbaum, Meri & Coenen, Günter & Sondermann, David & Lydon, Reamonn & Ajevskis, Viktors & Hammermann, Felix & Angino, Siria & Hernborg, Nils & Basso, Henrique & Hertweck, Matthias & Bi, 2021. "Employment and the conduct of monetary policy in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 275, European Central Bank.
    7. Mondolo, Jasmine, 2021. "Macroeconomic dynamics and the role of market power. The case of Italy," MPRA Paper 110172, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Oct 2021.
    8. Federico Barbiellini Amidei & Matteo Gomellini & Paolo Piselli, 2018. "The contribution of demography to Italy's economic growth: a two-hundred-year-long story," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 431, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    9. Giulia Bovini & Eliana Viviano, 2018. "The Italian "employment-rich" recovery: a closer look," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 461, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Luciana Aimone Gigio, & Silvia Camussi & Vincenzo Maccarrone, 2021. "Changes in the employment structure and in job quality in Italy: a national and regional analysis," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 603, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    11. Fiaschi, Davide & Tealdi, Cristina, 2022. "Scarring Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Italian Labour Market," IZA Discussion Papers 15102, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Gaetano Basso, 2020. "The Evolution of the Occupational Structure in Italy, 2007–2017," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 673-704, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour supply; demographic changes; pension reforms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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