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Reacting Quickly and Protecting Jobs: The Short-Term Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Greek Labor Market

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Listed:
  • Betcherman, Gordon

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Giannakopoulos, Nicholas

    (University of Patras)

  • Laliotis, Ioannis

    (City University London)

  • Pantelaiou, Ioanna

    (Athens University of Economics and Business)

  • Testaverde, Mauro

    (World Bank)

  • Tzimas, Giannis

    (University of Peloponnese)

Abstract

We use administrative, survey, and online vacancy data to analyze the short-term labor market impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown in Greece. We find that flows into unemployment have not increased; in fact, separations were lower than would have been expected given trends in recent years. At the same time, employment was about 12 percent lower at the end of June than it would have been without the pandemic. Our interrupted time series and difference-in-differences estimates indicate that this was due to a dramatic slowdown in hiring during months when job creation typically peaks in normal years, mostly in tourism. While we do not formally test the reasons for these patterns, our analysis suggests that the measures introduced to mitigate the effects of the crisis in Greece have played an important role. These measures prohibited layoffs in industries affected by the crisis and tied the major form of income support to the maintenance of employment relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Betcherman, Gordon & Giannakopoulos, Nicholas & Laliotis, Ioannis & Pantelaiou, Ioanna & Testaverde, Mauro & Tzimas, Giannis, 2020. "Reacting Quickly and Protecting Jobs: The Short-Term Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Greek Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 13516, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13516
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    Cited by:

    1. Bauer, Anja & Weber, Enzo, 2021. "Lockdown length and strength: labour-market effects in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242452, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Minoru Higa & Carlos Ospino & Fernando Aragon, 2023. "The persistent effects of COVID-19 on labour outcomes: evidence from Peru," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(8), pages 1065-1076, May.
    3. Vladimir Arčabić, 2020. "Koronakriza i što Hrvatska može naučiti iz dosadašnjih recesija," Tradicionalni skup Hrvatskog društva ekonomista u Opatiji - objavljena poglavlja, in: Josip Tica & Katarina Bačić (ed.), Ekonomska politika u 2021. godini - Hrvatska poslije pandemije, volume 28, chapter 1, pages 21-58, Hrvatsko društvo ekonomista (Croatian Society of Economists).
    4. Timothy Köhler & Haroon Bhorat & Robert Hill & Benjamin Stanwix, 2023. "Lockdown stringency and employment formality: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 57(1), pages 1-28, December.
    5. Bossavie,Laurent Loic Yves & Garrote Sanchez,Daniel & Makovec,Mattia & Ozden,Caglar, 2021. "Occupational Hazards : Migrants and the Economic and Health Risks of COVID-19 in Western Europe," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9873, The World Bank.
    6. Panagiotis Palaios & Evangelia Papapetrou, 2022. "Oil prices, labour market adjustment and dynamic quantile connectedness analysis: evidence from Greece during the crisis," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Wolter H. J. Hassink & Guyonne Kalb & Jordy Meekes, 2021. "Regional Coronavirus Hotspots During the COVID-19 Outbreak in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 127-140, May.
    8. Ourania Tzoraki & Svetlana Dimitrova & Marin Barzakov & Saad Yaseen & Vasilis Gavalas & Hani Harb & Abas Haidari & Brian P. Cahill & Alexandra Ćulibrk & Ekaterini Nikolarea & Eleni Andrianopulu & Miro, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Working Conditions, Employment, Career Development and Well-Being of Refugee Researchers," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, July.
    9. Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez & Eduardo Navarro-Jiménez & Libertad Moreno-Luna & María Concepción Saavedra-Serrano & Manuel Jimenez & Juan Antonio Simón & Jose Francisco Tornero-Aguilera, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social, Health, and Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, June.
    10. Palacios-Lopez,Amparo & Newhouse,David Locke & Pape,Utz Johann & Khamis,Melanie & Weber,Michael & Prinz,Daniel, 2021. "The Early Labor Market Impacts of COVID-19 in Developing Countries : Evidence from High-Frequency Phone Surveys," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9510, The World Bank.
    11. Yannick Fosso Djoumessi & Fosso Yannick, 2020. "The Adverse Impact of the Covid-19 on Labor Market in Cameroon [L'impact négatif du Covid-19 sur le marché du travail au Cameroun]," Working Papers hal-02917816, HAL.
    12. Tsai, I-Chun & Chiang, Ying-Hui & Lin, Shih-Yuan, 2022. "Effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on city-center and suburban housing markets: Evidence from Hangzhou, China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    13. Nam, Minhyuk & Lee, Soohyung, 2021. "COVID-19 and Employment in South Korea: Trends and Comparison with the 2008 Financial Crisis," IZA Discussion Papers 14101, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Greece; COVID-19; pandemic; labor market impacts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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