IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/44y2012i27p3585-3604.html

The Beveridge curve in Europe: new evidence using national and regional data

Author

Listed:
  • F. Bouvet

Abstract

The Beveridge curve depicts the empirical negative relationship between job vacancy rate and unemployment rate, and reflects the efficiency of the job matching process. Movements along a fixed downward sloping Beveridge curve are associated with cyclical shocks, while shifts of the curve arise from structural factors that alter the matching efficiency between job vacancies and unemployed workers. National and regional data on job vacancies and unemployment are combined to estimate the Beveridge curves of five European countries and their regions, focusing on the period 1975 to 2004. I also analyse whether shifts in European Beveridge curves are due to changes in the composition of the unemployed pool, labour market rigidities or cyclical and structural shocks. The empirical evidence suggests that changes in labour market rigidities, long term unemployment, as well as cyclical shocks are responsible for outward shifts in European Beveridge curves. I also find evidence of nonlinearities in the relation between unemployment and labour market institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • F. Bouvet, 2012. "The Beveridge curve in Europe: new evidence using national and regional data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(27), pages 3585-3604, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:44:y:2012:i:27:p:3585-3604
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2011.579062
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2011.579062
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036846.2011.579062?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 679-741, Elsevier.
    2. Robert G. Valletta, 2005. "Why Has the U.S. Beveridge Curve Shifted Back? New Evidence Using Regional Data," Working Paper Series 2005-25, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    3. Adriana Kugler & Juan F. Jimeno & Virginia Hernanz, "undated". "Employment Consequences of Restrictive Permanent Contracts: Evidence from Spanish Labor Market Reforms," Working Papers 2003-14, FEDEA.
    4. Jaclyn Hodges & Robert G. Valletta, 2006. "Job matching: evidence from the Beveridge curve," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue apr21.
    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. Bart Hobijn & Aysegul Sahin, 2013. "Beveridge Curve Shifts across Countries since the Great Recession," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(4), pages 566-600, December.
    2. Valentina Ioana Cheregi, 2025. "Is labor matching effectiveness dependent on education level, age or gender?," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 1-20.
    3. Tommaso Ciarli & André Lorentz & Marco Valente & Maria Savona, 2019. "Structural changes and growth regimes," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 119-176, March.
    4. Sabine Klinger & Enzo Weber, 2016. "Decomposing Beveridge Curve Dynamics By Correlated Unobserved Components," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 78(6), pages 877-894, December.
    5. Ruesga, Santos M. & Da Silva Bichara, Julimar & Pérez Trujillo, Manuel, 2015. "La Gran Recesión y sus efectos sobre la eficiencia del mercado laboral. Un estudio aplicado a nivel regional para determinar el mismatch agregado en España /The Great Recession and its Effects on Labo," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 33, pages 175-200, Enero.
    6. Marcela Kantová & Šárka Prudká & Markéta Arltová & Magdaléna Kotýnková, 2018. "Efektivita trhu práce ve světle opatření konceptu flexikurity: příklad České republiky a Švédska v období 20062015 [Efficiency of Labour Market Policy Changes in the Czech Republic and Sweden in 2006-2015]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2018(4), pages 411-429.
    7. Hugo Erken & Eric van Loon & Wouter Verbeek, 2015. "Mismatch on the Dutch labour market in the Great Recession," CPB Discussion Paper 303.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    8. Hermann Gartner & Thomas Rothe & Enzo Weber, 2024. "The Quality‐Weighted Matching Function: Did the German Labor Market Reforms Trade‐Off Efficiency against Job Quality?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 56(7), pages 1905-1914, October.
    9. Ferent-Pipas Marina, 2016. "Beveridge Curve Shifts – Europe 2020 Perspectives," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 63(3), pages 321-331, November.
    10. Christl, Michael, 2020. "A Beveridge curve decomposition for Austria: did the liberalisation of the Austrian labour market shift the Beveridge curve?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 54, pages 1-007.
    11. Luis Alberiko A. Gil-Alana & María Jesús González-Blanch & Carlos Poza, 2025. "Labour market mismatches in G7 countries: a fractional integration approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(7), pages 736-752, February.
    12. Vansteenkiste, Isabel, 2017. "Did the crisis permanently scar the Portuguese labour market? Evidence from a Markov-switching Beveridge curve analysis," Working Paper Series 2043, European Central Bank.
    13. Mark J. Holmes & Jesús Otero, 2020. "The Beveridge Curve Across US States: New Insights From a Pairwise Approach," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(2), pages 405-424, April.
    14. Klinger, Sabine & Weber, Enzo, 2014. "Decomposing Beveridge curve dynamics by correlated unobserved components: The impact of labour market reforms in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100499, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Samuel Bentolila & Juan J. Dolado & Pierre Cahuc & Thomas Le Barbanchon, 2010. "Two-Tier Labor Markets in the Great Recession: France Vs. Spain," Working Papers wp2010_1009, CEMFI.
    16. Cristina Lincaru, 2010. "Reginal Mismatch Tendencies In Romania-Evidence From Beveridge Curve," Romanian Journal of Regional Science, Romanian Regional Science Association, vol. 4(2), pages 32-61, DECEMBER.
    17. Richard Dutu & Mark J. Holmes & Brian Silverstone, 2016. "Modelling A Regime-Shifting Beveridge Curve," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 90-104, January.
    18. Paternesi Meloni, Walter & Romaniello, Davide & Stirati, Antonella, 2022. "Inflation and the NAIRU: assessing the role of long-term unemployment as a cause of hysteresis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    19. Boele Bonthuis & Valerie Jarvis & Juuso Vanhala, 2016. "Shifts in euro area Beveridge curves and their determinants," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, December.
    20. Marina Ferent-Pipas & Gabriel Armean, 2016. "Examining European Business Environments And Labour Markets. A Country-Clustering Proposal," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 351-362, July.
    21. repec:eub:ecoecr:v:3:y:2017:i:1:p:3-20 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Hugo Erken & Eric van Loon & Wouter Verbeek, 2015. "Mismatch on the Dutch labour market in the Great Recession," CPB Discussion Paper 303, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    23. Dorin JULA & Nicolae Marius JULA, 2017. "Mixed Sampling Panel Data Model for Regional Job Vacancies Forecasting," Eco-Economics Review, Ecological University of Bucharest, Economics Faculty and Ecology and Environmental Protection Faculty, vol. 3(1), pages 3-20, June.
    24. Gina Cristina Dimian & Bogdan Ileanu & Josef Jablonský & Jan Fábry, 2013. "Analysis of European Labour Market in the Crisis Context," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(1), pages 50-71.

    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. Löschel, Andreas & Pothen, Frank & Schymura, Michael, 2015. "Peeling the onion: Analyzing aggregate, national and sectoral energy intensity in the European Union," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(S1), pages 63-75.
    2. Mike Waugh & David Lagakos & Doug Gollin, 2011. "The Agricultural Productivity Gap in Developing Countries," 2011 Meeting Papers 1397, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Castelló-Climent, Amparo & Mukhopadhyay, Abhiroop, 2013. "Mass education or a minority well educated elite in the process of growth: The case of India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 303-320.
    4. Julián Arteaga & Nicolás de Roux & Margarita Gáfaro & Ana María Ibáñez & Heitor S. Pellegrina, 2025. "Farm Size Distribution, Weather Shocks, and Agricultural Productivity," Borradores de Economia 1305, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    5. Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2003. "The labor market effects of payroll taxes in a middle-income country: evidence from Colombia," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0306, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    6. Battisti, Michele & Gatto, Massimo Del & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2022. "Skill-biased technical change and labor market inefficiency," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Herrendorf, Berthold & Rogerson, Richard & Valentinyi, Ákos, 2014. "Growth and Structural Transformation," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 6, pages 855-941, Elsevier.
    8. Paula Bustos & Juan Manuel Castro Vincenzi & Joan Monras & Jacopo Ponticelli, 2019. "Structural Transformation, Industrial Specialization, and Endogenous Growth," Working Papers wp2019_1906, CEMFI.
    9. Gente, Karine & León-Ledesma, Miguel A. & Nourry, Carine, 2015. "External constraints and endogenous growth: Why didn't some countries benefit from capital flows?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 223-249.
    10. Olga Kuzmina, 2023. "Employment Flexibility and Capital Structure: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(9), pages 4992-5017, September.
    11. Uwe Sunde & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & Armin Falkbriq & David Huffman & Gerrit Meyerheim, 2022. "Patience and Comparative Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2806-2840.
    12. Temple, Jonathan & Ying, Huikang, 2014. "Life During Structural Transformation," CEPR Discussion Papers 10297, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    13. Keigo Nishida, 2014. "Agricultural productivity differences and credit market imperfections," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 1262-1276, December.
    14. Michael E. Waugh & David Lagakos & Douglas Gollin, 2011. "Why Don't Developing Countries Import More Food?," 2011 Meeting Papers 1367, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Michael A. Clemens & Claudio Montenegro & Lant Pritchett, 2016. "Bounding the Price Equivalent of Migration Barriers," Growth Lab Working Papers 67, Harvard's Growth Lab.
    16. Gottlieb, Charles & Grobovšek, Jan, 2019. "Communal land and agricultural productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 135-152.
    17. Égert, Balázs & Botev, Jarmila & Turner, David, 2020. "The contribution of human capital and its policies to per capita income in Europe and the OECD," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    18. Liang, Yan, 2022. "Impact of financial development on outsourcing and aggregate productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    19. Kerekes, Monika, 2007. "Analyzing patterns of economic growth: a production frontier approach," Discussion Papers 2007/15, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    20. Bravo-Ortega, Claudio & Lederman, Daniel, 2005. "Agriculture and national welfare around the world: causality and international heterogeneity since 1960," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3499, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    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:taf:applec:44:y:2012:i:27:p:3585-3604. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.