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Okun's Law in the French Regions: A Cross-Regional Comparison

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  • Marie-Estelle Binet

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • François Facchini

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This article tackles one central issue in the regional science literature: the persistence of regional disparities in unemployment within national economies. Our approach is original as Okun's coefficients are estimated for each of the 22 administrative French regions over the period 1990-2008, taking into account cross-regional disparities in a panel data specification. Estimates show that the coefficients exhibit regional differences. Indeed, Okun's law is confirmed in fourteen regions, although it does not hold in the other eight regions. Finally, region-specific factors that explain the results that are not significant are identified, and policies to reduce unemployment in French regions are examined.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie-Estelle Binet & François Facchini, 2013. "Okun's Law in the French Regions: A Cross-Regional Comparison," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00812549, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00812549
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00812549v2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicholas Apergis & Anthony Rezitis, 2003. "An examination of Okun's law: evidence from regional areas in Greece," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(10), pages 1147-1151.
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    7. Villaverde, José & Maza, Adolfo, 2009. "The robustness of Okun's law in Spain, 1980-2004: Regional evidence," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 289-297.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Guisinger, Amy Y. & Hernandez-Murillo, Ruben & Owyang, Michael T. & Sinclair, Tara M., 2018. "A state-level analysis of Okun's law," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 239-248.
    2. Patrick Olufemi ADEYEYE & Anthonia T ODELEYE & Olufemi Adewale ALUKO, 2018. "Investigating Okun's Law in Nigeria through the Dynamic Model," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 9(6), pages 39-46.
    3. Durech, Richard & Minea, Alexandru & Mustea, Lavinia & Slusna, Lubica, 2014. "Regional evidence on Okun's Law in Czech Republic and Slovakia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 57-65.
    4. Bande, Roberto & Martín-Román, Ángel, 2018. "Regional differences in the Okun’s Relationship: New Evidence for Spain (1980-2015)," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 41, pages 137-165.
    5. Kim, Jun & Yoon, Jong Cheol & Jei, Sang Young, 2020. "An empirical analysis of Okun’s laws in ASEAN using time-varying parameter model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 540(C).
    6. Porras-Arena, M. Sylvina & Martín-Román, Ángel L., 2019. "Self-employment and the Okun's law," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 253-265.
    7. Rui Pereira, 2014. "Okun’s law, asymmetries and regional spillovers: evidence from Virginia metropolitan statistical areas and the District of Columbia," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(2), pages 583-595, March.
    8. Luigi Bonaventura & Roberto Cellini & Mario Sambataro, 2020. "Gender differences in the Okun's law across the Italian regions," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(4), pages 2780-2789.
    9. Gina Cristina Dimian & Liviu Stelian Begu & Josef Jablonsky, 2017. "Unemployment and labour market mismatch in the European Union Countries," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 35(1), pages 13-44.
    10. Ryan W Herzog, 2013. "An Analysis of Okun's Law, the Natural Rate, and Voting Preferences for the 50 States," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(4), pages 2504-2517.
    11. Marie-Estelle Binet & François Facchini, 2013. "Determinants of Entrepreneurship in French Regions: The Role of Spatial Heterogeneity," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 201312, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.
    12. 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.
    13. Martin Boďa & Mariana Považanová, 2020. "Formal and statistical aspects of estimating Okun's law at a regional level," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(4), pages 1113-1136, August.
    14. Buendía Azorín, José Daniel & Sánchez de la Vega, María del Mar, 2017. "Output growth thresholds for the creation of employment and the reduction of unemployment: A spatial analysis with panel data from the Spanish provinces, 2000–2011," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 42-49.
    15. Vakulenko, Elena, 2015. "Analysis of the relationship between regional labour markets in Russia using Okun’s model," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 40(4), pages 28-48.
    16. alamro, Hassan & Al-dalaien, Qusay, 2014. "Modeling the relationship between GDP and unemployment for Okun’s law specific to Jordan," MPRA Paper 55302, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Mutascu, Mihai & Sokic, Alexandre, 2021. "Okun's law in the US: New insights in time and frequency," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 207-222.
    18. Marie-Estelle Binet & François Facchini, 2015. "The factors determining firm start-ups in French regions and the heterogeneity of regional labor markets," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(1), pages 251-268, January.
    19. Elhorst, J. Paul & Emili, Silvia, 2022. "A spatial econometric multivariate model of Okun's law," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    20. Nathalie Gonzalez Prieto & Prakash Loungani & Saurabh Mishra, 2018. "What Lies beneath? A Sub-National Look at Okun’s Law in the United States," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 835-852, September.
    21. Ousama Ben-Salha & Zouhair Mrabet, 2019. "Is Economic Growth Really Jobless? Empirical Evidence from North Africa," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(4), pages 598-624, December.
    22. Celia Melguizo Cháfer, 2015. "“An analysis of the Okun’s law for the Spanish provinces”," AQR Working Papers 201501, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised Jan 2015.

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    Keywords

    Okun's law; panel data; French regions; spatial heterogeneity;
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