IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp8809.html

The Impact of Arab Spring on Hiring and Separation Rates in the Tunisian Labour Market

Author

Listed:
  • Haouas, Ilham

    (Abu Dhabi University)

  • Heshmati, Almas

    (University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City)

Abstract

This paper analyses the hiring and separation rates in Tunisia before and after the Arab Spring of 2011. Several models are specified to study employment decisions based on quarterly administrative firm level data over the period of 2007 to 2012. The data provides information about important firm characteristics such as industry sector, number of hiring and separation, total employment effects and composition of labour force by gender, managerial level and age cohorts. Six models are estimated to investigate hiring, separation, hiring rate, separation rate, mobility, and net-employment. The results indicate presence of continued risk factors in Tunisia's labour market resulting from the global financial crisis in 2008 and the Arab Spring in 2011. Hiring was little changed during this time period, and the results suggest that factors that impact separation decisions remained present in Tunisia's labour market. In addition, the paper looks at various social issues such as youth unemployment and infer on how more efficient policy actions that will further engage the private sector could result in more sustainable positive net-employment and increased labour mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Haouas, Ilham & Heshmati, Almas, 2015. "The Impact of Arab Spring on Hiring and Separation Rates in the Tunisian Labour Market," IZA Discussion Papers 8809, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8809
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp8809.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Malik, Adeel & Awadallah, Bassem, 2013. "The Economics of the Arab Spring," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 296-313.
    2. Robert E. Hall, 2006. "Job Loss, Job Finding and Unemployment in the US Economy over the Past Fifty Years," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2005, Volume 20, pages 101-166, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Haouas Ilham & Yagoubi Mahmoud & Heshmati Almas, 2003. "Labor-use Efficiency in Tunisian Manufacturing Industiries," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Ilham Haouas & Mahmoud Yagoubi & Almas Heshmati, 2005. "The impacts of trade liberalization on employment and wages in Tunisian industries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(4), pages 527-551.
    5. Hassine, Nadia Belhaj, 2015. "Economic Inequality in the Arab Region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 532-556.
    6. Bassanini, Andrea & Marianna, Pascal, 2009. "Looking Inside the Perpetual-Motion Machine: Job and Worker Flows in OECD Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 4452, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Karshenas, Massoud & Moghadam, Valentine M. & Alami, Randa, 2014. "Social Policy after the Arab Spring: States and Social Rights in the MENA Region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 726-739.
    8. Assaad, Ragui, 1993. "Formal and informal institutions in the labor market, with applications to the construction sector in Egypt," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 925-939, June.
    9. Mark Gertler & Kenneth Rogoff (ed.), 2006. "NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2005," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262572346, December.
    10. Almas Heshmati & Ilham Haouas, 2011. "Employment Efficiency and Production Risk in the Tunisian Manufacturing Industries," Working Papers 602, Economic Research Forum, revised 07 Jan 2011.
    11. Mohamed Trabelsi, 2013. "Post-Political Transitions in Arab Spring Countries: The Challenges," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 20(2), pages 253-263, October.
    12. Dale T. Mortensen & Christopher A. Pissarides, 1994. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(3), pages 397-415.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Almas Heshmati & Ilham Haouas & Kazi Sohag & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2017. "Hiring and Separation Rates Before and after the Arab Spring in the Tunisian Labour Market," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(2), pages 259-278, June.
    2. Shigeru Fujita, 2011. "Dynamics of worker flows and vacancies: evidence from the sign restriction approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 89-121, January/F.
    3. Antonella Trigari, 2006. "The Role of Search Frictions and Bargaining for Inflation Dynamics," Working Papers 304, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    4. Antonella Trigari, 2009. "Equilibrium Unemployment, Job Flows, and Inflation Dynamics," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(1), pages 1-33, February.
    5. Régis Barnichon, 2009. "The Shimer puzzle and the identification of productivity shocks," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-04, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    6. Yashiv, Eran, 2007. "Labor search and matching in macroeconomics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 1859-1895, November.
    7. Régis Barnichon, 2007. "Productivity, Aggregate Demand and Unemployment Fluctuations," CEP Discussion Papers dp0819, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Yongsung Chang & Sun-Bin Kim & Mark Bils, 2007. "Comparative Advantage in Cyclical Unemployment," 2007 Meeting Papers 508, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Gomes, Pedro, 2012. "Labour market flows: Facts from the United Kingdom," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 165-175.
    10. Silva, José I. & Vázquez-Grenno, Javier, 2013. "The ins and outs of unemployment in a two-tier labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 161-169.
    11. Thorleifsson, Oskar, 2021. "Unemployment Dynamics in the Nordics : Is there Heterogeneity in the Relative Importance of Ins and Outs?," Warwick-Monash Economics Student Papers 22, Warwick Monash Economics Student Papers.
    12. Richard Upward & Hans-Dieter Gerner & Lutz Bellmann, 2014. "Beschäftigungsanpassung in deutschen Betrieben: Flexibler als gedacht? [Employment adjustment in German firms: more flexible than we thought?]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 47(1), pages 71-81, March.
    13. Steven J. Davis & Till Von Wachter, 2011. "Recessions and the Costs of Job Loss," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 1-72.
    14. Merkl, Christian & Stüber, Heiko, 2016. "Wage cyclicalities and labor market dynamics at the establishment level: Theory and evidence," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 12/2016, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    15. Mukoyama, Toshihiko & Sahin, Aysegl, 2009. "Why did the average duration of unemployment become so much longer?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 200-209, March.
    16. Kory Kroft & Fabian Lange & Matthew J. Notowidigdo & Lawrence F. Katz, 2016. "Long-Term Unemployment and the Great Recession: The Role of Composition, Duration Dependence, and Nonparticipation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 7-54.
    17. Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau, 2007. "The Macroeconomic Dynamics of Labor and Capital Market Imperfections," 2007 Meeting Papers 477, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    18. Namrata Singha Roy & Niladri Ghosh, 2024. "Understanding Labor Market Dynamics in Urban India Amidst the Pandemic: A Study Employing Supervised Learning Methods," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 22(4), pages 883-909, December.
    19. Ragui Assaad & Caroline Krafft & Colette Salemi, 2023. "Socioeconomic Status and the Changing Nature of School-to-Work Transitions in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 697-723, August.
    20. Yaya Sissoko & Brian W. Sloboda, 2016. "Employment Dynamics by Gender in Pennsylvania since the Great Recession," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 46(1), pages 91-106, Winter.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp8809. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.