IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/rmeecf/v7y2011i2n1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Labor Market Dynamics in Tunisia: The Issue of Youth Unemployment

Author

Listed:
  • Stampini Marco

    (Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Verdier-Chouchane Audrey

    (African Development Bank)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the dynamics of the youth labor market in Tunisia using unique labor force survey data from 2005 to 2007 that include a longitudinal component. We show that sustained economic growth can reduce the youth unemployment rate by 15 percentage points over the next few years. Tourism is the sector with the highest potential to create jobs for the youth. Yet, the public sector remains the main provider of employment for the graduates, in particular for women. In the face of high turnover in the private sector, young graduates appear to be willing to experience long unemployment spells as they queue for high skill jobs in the public administration.

Suggested Citation

  • Stampini Marco & Verdier-Chouchane Audrey, 2011. "Labor Market Dynamics in Tunisia: The Issue of Youth Unemployment," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-35, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:rmeecf:v:7:y:2011:i:2:n:1
    DOI: 10.2202/1475-3693.1394
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2202/1475-3693.1394
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2202/1475-3693.1394?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agenor, Pierre-Richard & Nabli, Mustapha K. & Yousef, Tarik & Jensen, Henning Tarp, 2007. "Labor market reforms, growth, and unemployment in labor-exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 277-309.
    2. Dennis, Allen, 2006. "Trade liberalization, factor market flexibility, and growth : the case of Morocco and Tunisia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3857, The World Bank.
    3. Marouani, Mohamed A., 2005. "The Impact of the Multifiber Agreement Phaseout on Unemployment in Tunisia: A Prospective Dynamic Analysis," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 39, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    4. Mouelhi, Rim Ben Ayed, 2007. "Impact of trade liberalization on firm's labour demand by skill: The case of Tunisian manufacturing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 539-563, June.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4310 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Mohamed Ali Marouani, 2010. "More jobs for university graduates: some policy options for Tunisia," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(10), pages 933-937.
    7. Mohamed Ali Marouani, 2009. "Is the End of the MFA a Threat?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 99-110, February.
    8. Mohamed Ben Halima & Yusuf Kocoglu & Bassem Ben Halima, 2010. "Insertion Professionnelle des Diplômés Universitaires en Tunisie: Comparaison Public-Privé," Working Papers hal-00943982, HAL.
    9. Sabine Bernab? & Marco Stampini, 2008. "Labour mobility during transition: evidence from Georgia," LICOS Discussion Papers 20608, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4345 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ali Fakih & Nathir Haimoun & Mohamad Kassem, 2020. "Youth Unemployment, Gender and Institutions During Transition: Evidence from the Arab Spring," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 311-336, July.
    2. Zuzana Brixiova & Thierry Kangoye, 2014. "Youth Unemployment in Africa: New Evidence and Policies from Swaziland," AIEL Series in Labour Economics, in: Dario Sciulli & Miguel Ángel Malo (ed.), Disadvantaged Workers, edition 1, chapter 9, pages 181-202, AIEL - Associazione Italiana Economisti del Lavoro.
    3. Kwabena A Kyei, 2015. "Level and Factors of Women’s Employment in the Sekhukhune District in the Limpopo Province of South Africa: Some Discriminant Analysis," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 7(2), pages 131-138.
    4. AfDB AfDB, . "ORNA - North Africa - Annual Report 2014," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 2139.
    5. Eleonora Bertoni & Giorgio Ricchiuti, 2017. "A Multilevel Analysis of Unemployment in Egypt," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 31(4), pages 494-514, December.
    6. Marco Stampini & Ron Leung & Setou M. Diarra & Lauréline Pla, 2013. "How Large Is The Private Sector In Africa? Evidence From National Accounts And Labour Markets," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(1), pages 140-165, March.
    7. Ragui Assaad & Samir Ghazouani & Caroline Krafft & Dominique J. Rolando, 2016. "Introducing the Tunisia Labor Market Panel Survey 2014," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, December.
    8. AfDB AfDB, . "The AfDB Group in North Africa 2014," Country Brochure, African Development Bank, number 2138.
    9. Ali Souag & Ragui Assaad, 2018. "The impact of the action plan for promoting employment and combating unemployment on employment informality in Algeria," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 272-298, July.
    10. Brixiova Zuzana & Egert Balazs & Essid Thouraya Hadj Amor, 2014. "The Real Exchange Rate and External Competitiveness in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-27, April.
    11. Zuzana Brixiova & Thierry Kangoye, 2013. "Working Paper 175 - Youth Employment in Africa: New Evidence and Policies from Swaziland," Working Paper Series 472, African Development Bank.
    12. AfDB AfDB, . "North Africa Quaterly Analytical - Impact of Libya’s Conflict on the Tunisian Economy - A Preliminary Assessment - Issue 2," Country Brochure, African Development Bank, number 323.
    13. Bakari, Sayef, 2015. "La question du chômage des jeunes diplômés en Tunisie : Evolution, caractéristiques, limites et perspectives (1990 – 2014) [The issue of unemployment of young graduates in Tunisia: Evolution, chara," MPRA Paper 74702, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Zuzana Brixiova & Balázs Égert & Thouraya Hadj Amor Essid, 2013. "Working Paper 187 - The Real Exchange Rate and External Competitiveness in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia," Working Paper Series 991, African Development Bank.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marco Stampini & Audrey Chouchane, 2011. "Working Paper 123 - Labor Market Dynamics in Tunisia: The Issue of Youth Unemployment," Working Paper Series 231, African Development Bank.
    2. Rougier, Eric, 2016. "“Fire in Cairo”: Authoritarian–Redistributive Social Contracts, Structural Change, and the Arab Spring," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-171.
    3. Henning Tarp Jensen & Sherman Robinson & Finn Tarp, 2010. "Measuring Agricultural Policy Bias: General Equilibrium Analysis of Fifteen Developing Countries," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1136-1148.
    4. Lastauskas, Povilas & Proškutė, Aurelija & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2023. "How do firms adjust when trade stops?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 287-307.
    5. Ali Souag & Ragui Assaad, 2018. "The impact of the action plan for promoting employment and combating unemployment on employment informality in Algeria," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 272-298, July.
    6. Ludo Cuyvers & Emmanuel Dhyne & Reth Soeng, 2010. "The effects of internationalisation on domestic labour demand by skills : Firm-level evidence for Belgium," Working Paper Research 206, National Bank of Belgium.
    7. Nguyen, Duy Loi & Nguyen, Binh Giang & Tran, Thi Ha & Vo, Thi Minh Le & Nguyen, Dinh Ngan, 2014. "Employment, Earnings and Social Protection for Female Workers in Vietnam’s Informal Sector," MPRA Paper 61989, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Boeters, Stefan & Savard, Luc, 2011. "The labour market in CGE models," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-079, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Antonio Martuscelli & Michael Gasiorek, 2019. "Regional Integration And Poverty: A Review Of The Transmission Channels And The Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 431-457, April.
    10. Bargain, Olivier & Etienne, Audrey & Melly, Blaise, 2021. "Informal pay gaps in good and bad times: Evidence from Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 693-714.
    11. Tansel, Aysit & Kan, Elif Oznur, 2011. "Labor mobility across the formal/informal divide in Turkey: evidence from individual level data," MPRA Paper 35672, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Dierk Herzer & Michael Grimm, 2012. "Does foreign aid increase private investment? Evidence from panel cointegration," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(20), pages 2537-2550, July.
    13. Alessio Tei & Claudio Ferrari, 2010. "Evoluzione dell'industria terminalistica per i servizi di linea nel mediteraneo. Implicazioni per la portualità nazionale," Working Papers 1008, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica, revised 2010.
    14. Batyra, Anna & Sneessens, Henri R., 2010. "Selective reductions in labor taxation: Labor market adjustments and macroeconomic performance," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 531-543, July.
    15. Ron Leung & Marco Stampini & Désiré Vencatachellum, 2010. "Working Paper 106 - Does Human Capital Protect Workers against Exogenous Shocks? South Africa in the 2008 - 2009 Crisis," Working Paper Series 243, African Development Bank.
    16. Aysit Tansel & Elif Öznur Acar, 2017. "Labor mobility across the formal/informal divide in Turkey: Evidence from individual-level data," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 617-635, September.
    17. Herzfeld, Thomas & Dries, Liesbeth & Glauben, Thomas, 2011. "Labour adjustment in agriculture: Assessing the heterogeneity across transition countries," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114540, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Marouani, Mohamed A. & Nilsson, Björn, 2016. "The labor market effects of skill-biased technological change in Malaysia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 55-75.
    19. Pagés, Carmen & Stampini, Marco, 2009. "No education, no good jobs? Evidence on the relationship between education and labor market segmentation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 387-401, September.
    20. François Gardes & Christophe Starzec, 2009. "Polish Households' Behavior in the Regular and Informal Economies," Post-Print halshs-00449447, HAL.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:rmeecf:v:7:y:2011:i:2:n:1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.