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The regional distribution of unemployment: What do micro-data tell us?

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  • Enrique López-Bazo
  • Elisabet Motellón

Abstract

Regional disparities in unemployment rates are large and persistent. The literature provides evidence of their magnitude and evolution, as well as evidence of the role of certain economic, demographic and environmental factors in explaining the gap between regions of low and high unemployment. Most of these studies, however, adopt an aggregate approach and so do not account for the individual characteristics of the unemployed and employed in each region. This paper, by drawing on micro-data from the Spanish wave of the Labour Force Survey, seeks to remedy this shortcoming by analysing regional differentials in unemployment rates. An appropriate decomposition of the regional gap in the average probability of being unemployed enables us to distinguish between the contribution of differences in the regional distribution of individual characteristics from that attributable to a different impact of these characteristics on the probability of unemployment. Our results suggest that the well-documented disparities in regional unemployment are not just the result of regional heterogeneity in the distribution of individual characteristics. Non-negligible differences in the probability of unemployment remain after controlling for this type of heterogeneity, as a result of differences across regions in the impact of the observed characteristics. Among the factors considered in our analysis, regional differences in the endowment and impact of an individual’s education are shown to play a major role.
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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:presci:v:92:y:2013:i:2:p:383-405
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1435-5957.2012.00456.x
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    2. Alejandro Almeida & Aida Galiano & Antonio A. Golpe & Juan M. Martín, 2020. "Regional unemployment and cyclical sensitivity in Spain," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 187-199, August.
    3. Hector Sala & Pedro Trivín, 2014. "Labour market dynamics in Spanish regions: evaluating asymmetries in troublesome times," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 197-221, August.
    4. Enrique López-Bazo & Juan C. Duque & Gustavo A. García & Paula Herrera-Idágarra, 2015. "Heterogeneidad regional en las diferencias por género en las tasas de desempleo en Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 89037, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Luis Diaz‐Serrano & William Nilsson, 2020. "The regional anatomy of youths' educational attainment in Spain: The role of the employment structure in local labour markets," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1487-1508, October.
    6. Celia Melguizo, 2017. "An analysis of Okun’s law for the Spanish provinces," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 37(1), pages 59-90, February.
    7. Vassilis Monastiriotis & Angelo Martelli, 2021. "Crisis, Adjustment and Resilience in the Greek Labor Market: An Unemployment Decomposition Approach," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 44(1), pages 85-112, January.
    8. Díaz Serrano, Lluís & Nilsson, William,, 2018. "School Dropouts and the Local Labor Markets: The Role of the Skills Structure of the Employment," Working Papers 2072/351583, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    9. Arjen Edzes & Marije Hamersma & Viktor Venhorst & Jouke Dijk, 2015. "Labour market performance and school careers of low educated graduates," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 267-289, November.
    10. George Grekousis, 2018. "Further Widening or Bridging the Gap? A Cross-Regional Study of Unemployment across the EU Amid Economic Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, May.

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