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Article
Publication date: 4 May 2012

Firouz Fallahi, Hamed Pourtaghi and Gabriel Rodríguez

The paper aims to study the effect of the unemployment rate and its volatility on crime in the USA. It proposes that not only the unemployment rate, but also its volatility affect…

8877

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to study the effect of the unemployment rate and its volatility on crime in the USA. It proposes that not only the unemployment rate, but also its volatility affect the crime.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the volatility of the unemployment rate is calculated using ARCH models. Next, using the results from the first stage the ARDL approach to cointegration is used to examine the link between the unemployment rate and its volatility on the crime.

Findings

The cointegrated or long‐run relationships are found only for burglary and motor‐vehicle theft. The results indicate that the unemployment rate has a significant effect on burglary and motor‐vehicle theft only in the short run and the unemployment volatility has a negative effect on motor‐vehicle theft regardless of time span. However, it has a positive effect on burglary in the short run and no effect in the long run.

Originality/value

The effect of unemployment rate on crime is documented in the literature. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that emphasizes the importance of unemployment rate volatility on the crime.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 39 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2002

Bernhard A. Weber

There is strong empirical evidence that unemployment rates decrease as the educational level rises. The present article attempts to take explicit account of this when estimating…

2942

Abstract

There is strong empirical evidence that unemployment rates decrease as the educational level rises. The present article attempts to take explicit account of this when estimating educational rates of return. Three models that differ with respect to their degree of simplicity and data requirements are developed herein and applied to the empirical data. The estimates for 14 European countries suggest that standard estimates that do not account for unemployment are substantially downward biased. Differences in unemployment probabilities at different educational levels, and youth unemployment, both appear to be important for a better understanding of the incentive structure behind educational decisions.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 44 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 October 2011

Lennart Erixon

The new economic-policy regime in Sweden in the 1990s included deregulation, central-bank independence, inflation targets and fiscal rules but also active labour market policy and…

Abstract

The new economic-policy regime in Sweden in the 1990s included deregulation, central-bank independence, inflation targets and fiscal rules but also active labour market policy and voluntary incomes policy. This chapter describes the content, determinants and performance of the new economic policy in Sweden in a comparative, mainly Nordic, perspective. The new economic-policy regime is explained by the deep recession and budget crisis in the early 1990s, new economic ideas and the power of economic experts. In the 1998–2007 period, Sweden displayed relatively low inflation and high productivity growth, but unemployment was high, especially by national standards. The restrictive monetary policy was responsible for the low inflation, and the dynamic (ICT) sector was decisive for the productivity miracle. Furthermore, productivity increases in the ICT sector largely explains why the Central Bank undershot its inflation target in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The new economic-policy regime in Sweden performed well during the global financial crisis. However, as in other OECD countries, the moderate increase in unemployment was largely attributed to labour hoarding. And the rapid recovery of the Baltic countries made it possible for Sweden to avoid a bank crisis.

Details

The Nordic Varieties of Capitalism
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-778-0

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2012

Tze‐Wei Fu and Monli Lin

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the change in China's exchange rate regime during the 2001‐2009 period, when both the pegged and floating exchange rates were adopted in…

4815

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the change in China's exchange rate regime during the 2001‐2009 period, when both the pegged and floating exchange rates were adopted in the country, offering a rare opportunity to address the issue. The effects of China's interest rate differential (IRD) and unemployment rate on the exchange rate are also discussed in this paper.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the economic variables are non‐stationary, this paper adopts cointegration analysis to evaluate the long‐term equilibrium in China's economy, with the unit root test, cointegrating test and a vector error correction model also used to scrutinize China' exchange rate regime for different time periods.

Findings

The time series data – including the exchange rate, IRD and unemployment rate – are used in the unit root test and Johansen test to verify the long‐term equilibrium between real exchange rate and unemployment rate in specific periods of time. Since the findings indicate no correlation between the exchange rate and IRD, it is possible to predict the value of Chinese yuan based on China's unemployment rate, but not IRD. China's government slows down the appreciation of its currency when the lagged unemployment rate is high.

Originality/value

The paper provides a fresh perspective on the long‐term equilibrium among China's exchange rate, IRD and unemployment by dividing the sample period into several parts, according to the exchange rate policy. The findings indicate that the unemployment rate plays an important role in China's exchange rate regime.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2022

Chukwuebuka Bernard Azolibe, Stephen Kelechi Dimnwobi and Chidiebube Peace Uzochukwu-Obi

In developing countries, banks play a major role by acting as a conduit for the effective mobilization of funds from the surplus sectors of an economy for onward lending to the…

Abstract

Purpose

In developing countries, banks play a major role by acting as a conduit for the effective mobilization of funds from the surplus sectors of an economy for onward lending to the deficit sectors for productive investments that will in turn increase the level of employment and economic growth. There has being a rising trend in unemployment rate in Nigeria and South Africa and hence, the need for the study to assess the effectiveness of banking system credit in curbing unemployment rate by making a comparative analysis of Nigeria and South Africa covering the period of 1991–2018.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed the unit root test, Johansen cointegration test, vector error correction model and VAR impulse response function in determining the relationship between the variables.

Findings

The major findings revealed that banking system credit matters in curbing unemployment rate in South Africa than in Nigeria. Also, other macroeconomic factors such as lending rate, inflation rate, Government expenditure and population growth were significant enough in influencing unemployment rate in South Africa than in Nigeria. Foreign direct investment was a significant factor in reducing unemployment rate in Nigeria than in South Africa. The cointegration test showed a long-term relationship between the variables in both countries while the speed of adjustment coefficient of the vector error correction model is faster in South Africa than in Nigeria.

Originality/value

Previous empirical studies on the relationship between banking system credit and unemployment rate have focused much on other regions such as Asia and Europe. Thus, the study is unique as it focused on the African region and also made a comparative analysis by testing the Keynesian theory of employment, interest and money on two emerging African economies which are Nigeria and South Africa.

Details

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1026-4116

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2011

Chor Foon Tang

The main purpose of this study is to examine the dynamic relationship between tourist arrivals, inflation, unemployment and crime rates in Malaysia. This study covered the annual…

13085

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to examine the dynamic relationship between tourist arrivals, inflation, unemployment and crime rates in Malaysia. This study covered the annual data from 1970 to 2008.

Design/methodology/approach

The multivariate Johansen‐Juselius cointegration test is employed to examine the potential long‐run equilibrium relationship. While the Granger causality test within the vector error‐correction modelling (VECM) framework is applied to determine the causal relationship between crime rate and its determinants.

Findings

The Johansen‐Juselius cointegration test result reveals that the variables are cointegrated and the dynamic ordinary least squares estimator suggest that unemployment, inflation and tourist arrivals are positively related to crime rates in Malaysia. For Granger causality, in the long‐run tourist arrivals, inflation and unemployment rates Granger cause crime rate in Malaysia. However, in the short run we find bilateral causality between unemployment, crime and tourist arrivals. Finally, the variance decompositions and impulse response functions analyses implied that unemployment, inflation and tourist arrivals are important in explaining the variation in crime for Malaysia.

Originality/value

The estimated crime rate function for Malaysia demonstrated that promoting supply‐side economy and also increases the numbers of police and patrolling duties in the potential crime areas will reduce the crime rate in Malaysia and in the same time attract more tourist arrivals to Malaysia.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2022

Isiaka Akande Raifu and Oluwafemi Mathew Adeboje

The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of discouraged worker effect hypothesis and unemployment invariance hypothesis in Africa, including its five regional groups…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of discouraged worker effect hypothesis and unemployment invariance hypothesis in Africa, including its five regional groups. Specifically, the study tests the existence of co-integration between different categories of labour force participation and unemployment rate, total male and female labour force participation and the unemployment rate for age brackets 15–24, 15–64 and 15+, respectively.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses the data of 52 countries in Africa which cover the period from 1991 to 2018. Three co-integration estimation techniques namely, the Kao co-integration test, Pedroni co-integration test and Westerlund co-integration test are used to validate the existence of co-integration between the labour force participation and unemployment rate. The dynamic ordinary least square is further used to explore the impact of the unemployment rate on labour force participation, while the pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) that accounts for individual country and time effects is employed for robustness check.

Findings

Except for Southern Africa, it is found that the discouraged worker effect hypothesis holds in Africa and the rest of its regions. This suggests that there is a long-run relationship between labour force participation rate and unemployment rate irrespective of age group and gender classifications. To some extent, the authors discover the existence of cross-sectional dependence in the panel. There is also an inverse relationship between labour force participation and the unemployment rate. This implies that when the unemployment rate is high, labour force participation tends to decline. The results are, however, sensitive to the choice of estimation method.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to the examination of linear co-integration between labour force participation and the unemployment rate in Africa and its five regions. The future study can investigate the possibility of a nonlinear or an asymmetric relationship between labour for participation and the unemployment rate.

Social implications

Thus, a policy framework that would generate employment creation is greatly required in Africa.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a pioneer work that addresses the issue of co-integration between labour force participation and unemployment rate for Africa and its five regions taking into consideration gender and age brackets of labour force participation and unemployment.

Details

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-0705

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2019

Amrial, Ahmad Mikail and Tika Arundina

Studies linking monetary policy to inflation and unemployment rates in the context of the Phillips curve are limited to conventional economics. On the other hand, research related…

1166

Abstract

Purpose

Studies linking monetary policy to inflation and unemployment rates in the context of the Phillips curve are limited to conventional economics. On the other hand, research related to application of the dual monetary policy is limited to discussion of monetary policy transmission lines, especially in Islamic banking channels. Therefore, this study aims to determine the monetary policy response in implementation of the dual monetary policy to two important indicators in the macro economy, namely, inflation and unemployment. In addition, the study reveals the relevance of the Phillips curve in Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach

The method used is vector auto regression vector autoregression (VAR) with monthly data from February 2005 to October 2016 for the first model and semi-annual data from February 2005 to August 2017 for the second model. Analysis of VAR estimation in this research uses the impulse response function (IRF) to analyze the degree of sensitivity or responsiveness to a shock between variables and the variance decomposition (VD) application to analyze how the proportion of each independent variable’s contribution affects the money supply.

Findings

The result shows that monetary policy has responded appropriately to the problems of inflation and unemployment. However, inflation generates a bigger response than unemployment. Bank Indonesia considers the inflation expectations aspect of both conventional and Islamic references. Finally, the concept of the Phillips curve proves to be irrelevant in Indonesia.

Practical implications

The central bank is expected to build a more effective policy for transmission from the monetary sector to the real sector to effectively overcome the problems of inflation and unemployment. Furthermore, Indonesia needs to increase policies to overcome problems on the supply side.

Originality/value

The results of this study provide new insights into application of the dual monetary policy toward inflation and unemployment.

Details

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8394

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1977

ALBERT BERRY

The last few decades have seen increasing attention to problems of open and disguised unemployment (and underemployment) in developing countries. Open unemployment appears to have…

167

Abstract

The last few decades have seen increasing attention to problems of open and disguised unemployment (and underemployment) in developing countries. Open unemployment appears to have increased in the sixties. Disguised unemployment of persons in the labour force (as defined by marginal product of labour below the wage) is a key element in the labour surplus interpretations of underdeveloped economies. In developed countries, hidden or disguised unemployment is thought of primarily in terms of nonparticipation related to the difficulty of obtaining a job; the usual proxy for such difficulty is the unemployment rate. As open unemployment has risen in the urban areas of many L.D.C's, while participation rates have at the same time been falling, it is natural to ask whether this particular form of hidden unemployment is becoming increasingly important in those countries. More generally, a country's participation rate is a valuable indicator of the degree of utilization of the labour force; the hints it may provide as to the nautre of the labour market and the demand for labour are one of several contributions it makes to the understanding of an economic system.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Abstract

Details

Explaining Unemployment: Econometric Models for the Netherlands
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-847-6

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