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Job Accession, Separation and Mobility in the Egyptian Labor Market Over the Past Decade

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  • Shaimaa Yassin

    (University of Paris1 Pantheon-Sorbonne (CES))

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess to what extent is the Egyptian labor market dynamic and the impact of its dynamics on stagnant unemployment rates. By estimating annual and semiannual transition probabilities of workers among different employment sectors as well as between employment and non-employment states, the paper explores how sluggish the Egyptian labor market has been throughout the past decade, and characterizes the subcategories which suffer the most from this rigidity. In the absence of official and research statistics of these transitions in Egypt, these estimates would surely improve the monitoring of business cycles, the detection of inflection (turning) points and the assessment of labor market tightness. A unique semi-annual panel of labor market micro-data, generated from the new cross-sectional Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey 2012, is used in the analysis. Results show evidence of relatively rigid dynamics within the Egyptian labor market with a turning point in trends of job accession (job finding) and separation rates right after the financial crisis and the January 2011 uprising. Flows into and out of unemployment seem to have been affected by the slowdown of the economic growth following the Arab Spring during which separation rates almost doubled and job finding rates declined. Even after an increase in the separation rates of about one percentage point, these rates remain very low, reflecting an extremely rigid labor market. In such times of crises, unemployment rises not only because workers lose their jobs into non-employment (evidence of increasing involuntary job exits), but also because it becomes harder to find jobs, which is verified by a substantial decline in the job finding rate after 2009. Results also suggest that claims of increasing job losses after January 2011 uprising were exaggerated. Additionally, a rise in job-to-job transitions, especially among informal workers, is observed

Suggested Citation

  • Shaimaa Yassin, 2014. "Job Accession, Separation and Mobility in the Egyptian Labor Market Over the Past Decade," Working Papers 881, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:881
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft, 2023. "Labour market dynamics and youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa: Evidence from Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(4), pages 519-553, December.
    2. Caroline Krafft & Ragui Assaad, 2020. "Employment’s Role in Enabling and Constraining Marriage in the Middle East and North Africa," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2297-2325, December.
    3. Ragui Assaad & Rana Hendy & Moundir Lassassi & Shaimaa Yassin, 2020. "Explaining the MENA paradox: Rising educational attainment yet stagnant female labor force participation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(28), pages 817-850.
    4. Ahmed Elsayed & Jackline Wahba, 2019. "Political change and informality : Evidence from the Arab Spring," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 27(1), pages 31-66, January.
    5. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft & Colette Salemi, 2023. "Socioeconomic Status and the Changing Nature of School-to-Work Transitions in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 697-723, August.
    6. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft & Shaimaa Yassin, 2020. "Job creation or labor absorption? An analysis of private sector job growth in Egypt," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 177-207, July.
    7. Caroline Krafft, 2020. "Why is fertility on the rise in Egypt? The role of women’s employment opportunities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1173-1218, October.
    8. Shaimaa Yassin, 2016. "Constructing Labor Market Transitions Recall Weights in Retrospective Data: An Application to Egypt and Jordan," Working Papers 1061, Economic Research Forum, revised 11 Jan 2016.
    9. World Bank, 2014. "More Jobs, Better Jobs : A Priority for Egypt," World Bank Publications - Reports 20584, The World Bank Group.
    10. Caroline Krafft, 2016. "Understanding the Dynamics of Household Enterprises in Egypt: Birth, Death, Growth and Transformation," Working Papers 983, Economic Research Forum, revised Mar 2016.
    11. Mona Amer, 2014. "Patterns of Labor Market Insertion in Egypt, 1998-2012," Working Papers 849, Economic Research Forum, revised Oct 2014.
    12. Caroline Krafft & Ragui Assaad, 2018. "Do More Productive Firms Pay Workers More? Evidence from Egypt," Working Papers 1222, Economic Research Forum, revised 18 Sep 2018.
    13. Shaimaa Yassin & Francois Langot, 2017. "Correcting Measurement Errors in Transition Models Based on Retrospective Panel Data," IRENE Working Papers 17-04, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.

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