IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rie/riecdt/32.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Recent trends in the youth labor market in Colombia: Diagnosis and policy challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Ham, Andrés
  • Maldonado, Darío
  • Guzmán-Gutiérrez, Carlos Santiago

Abstract

This paper characterizes the youth labor market in Colombia from 2008 to 2017. We estimate labor market indicators for individuals aged between 14-28 years using microdata from Colombia’s household surveys over the study period. Our estimates document the main patterns and trends in the labor market for youth in labor force participation, employment, unemployment, informality, and earnings. We compare these statistics to the same indicators for adults (individuals aged between 29-65 years), and explore differences within youth by characteristics such as gender, region, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, and experience. Results indicate that young Colombians have increased their participation rate in recent years, but are mostly employed in low-quality jobs: unsalaried and informal. We also document marked inequalities in labor market outcomes across youth characteristics. We provide a series of recommendations to guide future youth labor policy given these estimates and a critical analysis of recent youth policies in Colombia.

Suggested Citation

  • Ham, Andrés & Maldonado, Darío & Guzmán-Gutiérrez, Carlos Santiago, 2020. "Recent trends in the youth labor market in Colombia: Diagnosis and policy challenges," Working papers 32, Red Investigadores de Economía.
    • Handle: RePEc:rie:riecdt:32
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repositorio.redinvestigadores.org/bitstream/handle/Riec/51/Working%20paper%20Red%20Investigadores%20de%20Econom%c3%ada%20No.%2032.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.
    2. David McKenzie, 2017. "How Effective Are Active Labor Market Policies in Developing Countries? A Critical Review of Recent Evidence," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 32(2), pages 127-154.
    3. Bosch, Mariano & Esteban-Pretel, Julen, 2012. "Job creation and job destruction in the presence of informal markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 270-286.
    4. Björn Nilsson, 2019. "The School-to-Work Transition in Developing Countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(5), pages 745-764, May.
    5. Orazio Attanasio & Arlen Guarín & Carlos Medina & Costas Meghir, 2015. "Long Term Impacts of Vouchers for Vocational Training: Experimental Evidence for Colombia," Borradores de Economia 13326, Banco de la Republica.
    6. Viollaz, Mariana, 2014. "Transición de la escuela al trabajo. Tres décadas de evidencia para América Latina," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    7. Adriana D. Kugler & Maurice D. Kugler & Luis O. Herrera-Prada, 2017. "Do Payroll Tax Breaks Stimulate Formality? Evidence from Colombia’s Reform," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2017), pages 3-40, November.
    8. Ms. Burcu Hacibedel & Pierre Mandon & Ms. Priscilla S Muthoora & Nathalie Pouokam, 2019. "Inequality in Good and Bad Times: A Cross-Country Approach," IMF Working Papers 2019/020, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Gregg, Paul & Tominey, Emma, 2005. "The wage scar from male youth unemployment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 487-509, August.
    10. Carlos Humberto Ortiz & José Ignacio Uribe & Érika Raquel Badillo, 2009. "Segmentación inter e intrarregional en el mercado laboral urbano de Colombia, 2001-2006," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 27(58), pages 194-231, August.
    11. Busso, Matías & Bassi, Marina & Urzúa, Sergio & Vargas, Jaime, 2012. "Disconnected: Skills, Education, and Employment in Latin America," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 427.
    12. Arias-Vazquez, Francisco Javier & Lee, Jean Nahrae & Newhouse, David, 2012. "The Role of Sectoral Growth Patterns in Labor Market Development," IZA Discussion Papers 6926, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Schmillen, Achim & Umkehrer, Matthias, 2013. "The scars of youth : effects of early-career unemployment on future unemployment experience," IAB-Discussion Paper 201306, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    14. Amarante, Verónica & Arim, Rodrigo & Santamaría, Mauricio, 2005. "Los efectos de la reforma laboral de 2002 en el mercado laboral colombiano," Perfil de Coyuntura Económica, Universidad de Antioquia, CIE, November.
    15. Marco Manacorda & Furio Camillo Rosati & Marco Ranzani & Giuseppe Dachille, 2017. "Pathways from school to work in the developing world," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-40, December.
    16. Erik Hurst & Geng Li & Benjamin Pugsley, 2014. "Are Household Surveys Like Tax Forms? Evidence from Income Underreporting of the Self-Employed," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(1), pages 19-33, March.
    17. Livia Alfonsi & Oriana Bandiera & Vittorio Bassi & Robin Burgess & Imran Rasul & Munshi Sulaiman & Anna Vitali, 2020. "Tackling Youth Unemployment: Evidence From a Labor Market Experiment in Uganda," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(6), pages 2369-2414, November.
    18. Cristina Fernández & Leonardo Villar, 2016. "A Taxonomy of Colombia’s Informal Labor Market," Coyuntura Económica, Fedesarrollo, vol. 46(1), pages 15-50, June.
    19. Marina Bassi & Matías Busso & Sergio Urzúa & Jaime Vargas, 2012. "Disconnected: Skills, Education, and Employment in Latin America," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 79504, February.
    20. Camilo Mondragón-Vélez & Ximena Peña & Daniel Wills, 2010. "Labor Market Rigidities and Informality in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2010), pages 65-101, August.
    21. Bell, David N.F. & Blanchflower, David G., 2010. "Youth Unemployment: Déjà Vu?," IZA Discussion Papers 4705, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Gasparini Leonardo & Leonardo Tornaroli, 2009. "Labor Informality in Latin America and the Caribbean: Patterns and Trends from Household Survey Microdata," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, September.
    23. Gabriel Ulyssea, 2018. "Firms, Informality, and Development: Theory and Evidence from Brazil," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(8), pages 2015-2047, August.
    24. Camilo Alberto Cárdenas Hurtado & María Alejandra Hernández Montes & Jhon Edwar Torres Gorron, 2015. "A Statistical Analysis of Heterogeneity on Labour Markets and Unemployment Rates in Colombia," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, August.
    25. Arnstein Aassve & Francesco C. Billari & Raffaella Piccarreta, 2007. "Strings of Adulthood: A Sequence Analysis of Young British Women’s Work-Family Trajectories," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 369-388, October.
    26. Fares, Jean & Montenegro, Claudio E. & Orazem, Peter F., 2006. "How are youth faring in the labor market ? Evidence from around the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4071, The World Bank.
    27. Bernal Raquel, 2009. "The Informal Labor Market in Colombia: identification and characterization," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, September.
    28. Ocampo, José Antonio, 2009. "Impactos de la crisis financiera mundial sobre América Latina," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    29. Orazio Attanasio & Adriana Kugler & Costas Meghir, 2011. "Subsidizing Vocational Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Colombia: Evidence from a Randomized Trial," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 188-220, July.
    30. Tornarolli, Leopoldo, 2016. "El Fenómeno de los NiNis en América Latina," Research Department working papers 988, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    31. repec:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa13p182 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Leonardo Fabio Morales & Carlos Medina, 2017. "Assessing the Effect of Payroll Taxes on Formal Employment: The Case of the 2012 Tax Reform in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2017), pages 75-124, November.
    33. Daniela Zuluaga Gordillo & Fabio Sánchez Torres & Valentina Chegwin Dugand, 2018. "Empleo, violencia y oportunidades para los jóvenes. Evidencia para América Latina y el Caribe," Documentos CEDE 16085, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    34. Görlich, Dennis & Stepanok, Ignat & Al-Hussami, Fares, 2013. "Youth unemployment in Europe and the world: Causes, consequences and solutions," Kiel Policy Brief 59, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    35. Heckman, James J, 1976. "A Life-Cycle Model of Earnings, Learning, and Consumption," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages 11-44, August.
    36. Orazio Attanasio & Arlen Guarín & Carlos Medina & Costas Meghir, 2017. "Vocational Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Colombia: A Long-Term Follow-Up," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 131-143, April.
    37. Luis Armando Galvis & Adolfo Meisel, 2013. "Regional Inequalities and Regional Policies in Colombia: The Experience of the Last Two Decades," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Juan R. Cuadrado-Roura & Patricio Aroca (ed.), Regional Problems and Policies in Latin America, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 197-223, Springer.
    38. Cristina Fernandez & Leonardo Villar, 2017. "The Impact of Lowering the Payroll Tax on Informality in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2017), pages 125-155, November.
    39. Raquel Bernal & Marcela Eslava & Marcela Melendez & Alvaro Pinzon, 2017. "Switching from Payroll Taxes to Corporate Income Taxes: Firms’ Employment and Wages after the 2012 Colombian Tax Reform," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2017), pages 41-74, November.
    40. De Hoyos Navarro,Rafael E. & Popova,Anna & Rogers,F. Halsey, 2016. "Out of school and out of work: a diagnostic of ninis in Latin America," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7548, The World Bank.
    41. Stefano Farne & Michela Espinosa & Emilio Carrasco, 2002. "La calidad del empleo en Colombia," Obs. Mercado de Trabajo y Seguridad Social 15992, Universidad Externado de Colombia.
    42. Tufan Ekici & Mustafa Besim, 2016. "A Measure of the Shadow Economy in a Small Economy: Evidence from Household-Level Expenditure Patterns," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(1), pages 145-160, March.
    43. Kluve, Jochen & Puerto, Susana & Robalino, David & Romero, Jose M. & Rother, Friederike & Stöterau, Jonathan & Weidenkaff, Felix & Witte, Marc, 2019. "Do youth employment programs improve labor market outcomes? A quantitative review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 237-253.
    44. Stefano Farné, 2009. "Políticas para la inserción laboral de mujeres y jóvenes en Colombia," Obs. Mercado de Trabajo y Seguridad Social 5965, Universidad Externado de Colombia.
    45. Camilo Alberto Cárdenas Hurtado & María Alejandra Hernández Montes & Jhon Edwar Torres Gorron, 2014. "An Exploratory Analysis of Heterogeneity on Regional Labour Markets and Unemployment Rates in Colombia: An MFACT approach," Borradores de Economia 802, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    46. Berzin, Stephanie Cosner, 2010. "Vulnerability in the transition to adulthood: Defining risk based on youth profiles," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 487-495, April.
    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. Montoya, J & Jurado, A., 2021. "Calidad del empleo agregado, formal e informal: un análisis para la economía colombiana en el periodo 2007 -2019," Documentos de trabajo - Alianza EFI 19290, Alianza EFI.
    2. Andrés Álvarez & Juan Camilo Chaparro & Carolina González & Santiago Levy & Darío Maldonado & Marcela Meléndez & Natalia Ramírez & Marta Juanita Villaveces, 2022. "Reporte ejecutivo de la Misión de Empleo de Colombia," Documentos de trabajo 20156, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.

    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. Andrés Ham & Darío Maldonado & Carlos Santiago Guzmán-Gutiérrez, 2019. "Tendencias recientes en la situación laboral de los jóvenes en Colombia: diagnóstico, desafíos y retos de política pública," Documentos de trabajo 17569, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    2. Luis E. Arango & Luz A. Flórez, 2017. "Informalidad laboral y elementos para un salario mínimo diferencial por regiones en Colombia," Borradores de Economia 1023, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    3. Jessen, Jonas & Kluve, Jochen, 2021. "The effectiveness of interventions to reduce informality in low- and middle-income countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 138.
    4. Andrés Álvarez & Juan Camilo Chaparro & Carolina González & Santiago Levy & Darío Maldonado & Marcela Meléndez & Natalia Ramírez & Marta Juanita Villaveces, 2022. "Reporte ejecutivo de la Misión de Empleo de Colombia," Documentos de trabajo 20156, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    5. Santiago Caicedo & Miguel Espinosa & Arthur Seibold, 2022. "Unwilling to Train?—Firm Responses to the Colombian Apprenticeship Regulation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(2), pages 507-550, March.
    6. Luis E. Arango & Luz A. Flórez & Laura D. Guerrero, 2020. "Minimum wage effects on informality across demographic groups in Colombia," Borradores de Economia 1104, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    7. Gaurav Khanna & Carlos Medina & Anant Nyshadham & Jorge Tamayo & Nicolas Torres, 2023. "Formal Employment and Organised Crime: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Colombia," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(654), pages 2427-2448.
    8. Acosta-Henao, Miguel, 2023. "Law enforcement and the size of the informal sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Cristina Fernández & Leonardo Villar & Nicolás Gómez, 2017. "Taxonomía de la informalidad en América Latina," Coyuntura Económica, Fedesarrollo, vol. 47(1 y 2), pages 137-167, December.
    10. Crepon,Bruno Jacques Jean Philippe & Premand,Patrick, 2018. "Creating new positions ? direct and indirect effects of a subsidized apprenticeship program," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8561, The World Bank.
    11. Livia Alfonsi & Oriana Bandiera & Vittorio Bassi & Robin Burgess & Imran Rasul & Munshi Sulaiman & Anna Vitali, 2020. "Tackling Youth Unemployment: Evidence From a Labor Market Experiment in Uganda," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(6), pages 2369-2414, November.
    12. Luis E. Arango & Luz A. Flórez & María A. Olarte-Delgado, 2019. "Precio del carbón y dinámica laboral en Valledupar," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, vol. 22(2), pages 313-370, December.
    13. Das, Narayan, 2021. "Training the disadvantaged youth and labor market outcomes: Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    14. Chakravarty, Shubha & Lundberg, Mattias & Nikolov, Plamen & Zenker, Juliane, 2019. "Vocational training programs and youth labor market outcomes: Evidence from Nepal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 71-110.
    15. Adam Osman & Jamin D. Speer, 2024. "Stigma and take‐up of labour market assistance: Evidence from two field experiments," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(361), pages 123-141, January.
    16. Renata Narita, 2020. "Self-Employment in Developing Countries: A Search-Equilibrium Approach," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 35, pages 1-34, January.
    17. Acevedo, Paloma & Cruces, Guillermo & Gertler, Paul & Martinez, Sebastian, 2020. "How vocational education made women better off but left men behind," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Bhaskar Chakravorty & Arjun S. Bedi, 2019. "Skills Training and Employment Outcomes in Rural Bihar," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(2), pages 173-199, June.
    19. Cristina Fernández, 2019. "Empleo y emprendimiento en Bogotá," Informes de Investigación 17931, Fedesarrollo.
    20. Mathias Allemand & Martina Kirchberger & Sveta Milusheva & Carol Newman & Brent Roberts & Vincent Thorne, 2023. "Conscientiousness and Labor Market Returns: Evidence from a Field Experiment in West Africa," Trinity Economics Papers tep0123, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Youth; Llabor market; Transition into the labor market; Labor policy; Colombia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

    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:rie:riecdt:32. 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: CAIE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/redcoea.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.