STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: THE EFFECTS OF INTERINDUSTRY and INTERREGIONAL DISPERSION

Abstract

The effects of sectoral shifts, measured by dispersion in the growth rates of employment or earning across industries or regions, on unemployment are tested in a specification controlling for the effects of other labor‐market variables and shifts in the demographic composition of the labor force. Interindustry and geographical shifts in labor demand have significant unemployment effects, with adult males the group most strongly affected. The estimated equations imply that most of the fluctuation in unemployment over the period 1956‐87 was been due to microeconomic causes rather than aggregate demand.

Regional and Sectoral Evidence of the Macroeconomic Effects of Labor Reallocation: A Panel Data Analysis

“…This is of interest because these alternative indexes appear to be qualitatively similar (see the summary statistics of the dispersion indexes in Table 2). This result supports Parker's (1992) argument suggesting that it is mobility across the four major sectors that matters (σ 4 i,t index, includes construction, finance, manufacturing, and trade sectors).…”

On the significance of labour reallocation for European unemployment: Evidence from a panel of 15 countries

“…First and foremost, we observe that the coefficient of labor reallocation remains positive and significant under all alternative measures of sectoral disaggregation. Second, the magnitude of the coefficient decreases as the sectoral disaggregation increases, a result that corroborates Parker's (1992) support for the importance of mobility across the 4 major sectors of the economy. 16 The coefficient of ΔIR seems to be more fragile to the alternative measures of reallocation index in the specification as it loses its significance in some cases when employing the CCEMG estimator.…”

The impact of sectoral shifts in investment on unemployment in U.S. labor markets

“…As in Parker [1992], sectoral reallocations of investment affect males more adversely than females. In addition, the unemployment effect of reallocations for nonwhites is more than double that for whites.…”

“…Table 3 presents estimates for five demographic groups, using the specification from Model 3 in Table 2. Parker [1992] used contemporaneous shifts in compensation among 13 sectors to assess the impact of changes in the pattern of labor demand upon unemployment among males, females, and teenagers. The shift effect was strongest for males and weakest for teenagers.…”