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Okun's law in the french regions: a cross-regional comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Binet Marie-estelle

    (CREM (UMR 6211 CNRS), University of Rennnes1)

  • Francois Facchini

    (CES, University of Paris 1)

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

  • Binet Marie-estelle & Francois Facchini, 2013. "Okun's law in the french regions: a cross-regional comparison," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 420-433.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00620
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Okun's law; regional labour markets; panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics

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