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1 – 10 of over 31000Simplice Asongu and Nicholas M. Odhiambo
This study assesses the relevance of foreign aid to the incidence of capital flight and unemployment in 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
This study assesses the relevance of foreign aid to the incidence of capital flight and unemployment in 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is for the period 1996–2018, and the empirical evidence is based on interactive quantile regressions in order to assess the nexuses throughout the conditional distribution of the unemployment outcome variable.
Findings
From the findings, capital flight has a positive unconditional incidence on unemployment, while foreign aid dampens the underlying positive unconditional nexus. Moreover, in order for the positive incidence of capital flight to be completely dampened, foreign aid thresholds of 2.230 and 3.964 (% of GDP) are needed at the 10th and 25th quantiles, respectively, of the conditional distribution of unemployment. It follows that the relevance of foreign aid in crowding out the unfavourable incidence of capital flight on unemployment is significantly apparent only in the lowest quantiles or countries with below-median levels of unemployment. The policy implications are discussed.
Originality/value
The study complements the extant literature by assessing the importance of development assistance in how capital flight affects unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa.
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The purpose of the study is to assess if a policy of female inclusive education should be complemented with a policy of female ownership of bank accounts to fight female…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to assess if a policy of female inclusive education should be complemented with a policy of female ownership of bank accounts to fight female unemployment. The study therefore examines how female ownership of bank accounts moderates the incidence of female education on female unemployment.
Design/methodology/approach
The focus is on 44 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries for the period 2004–2018 and the empirical evidence is based on interactive quantile regressions. The interactions are tailored such that female ownership of bank accounts influences the effect of female inclusive education on female unemployment.
Findings
From the empirical findings it is evident that female ownership of bank accounts does not effectively moderate female education in order to reduce female unemployment unless complementary policies are considered. The complementary policies should be in view of boosting the interaction between female education and female bank account ownership in increasing employment opportunities for the female gender and by extension, reducing female unemployment. The invalidity of the moderating effect is robust to the inclusion of more elements in the conditioning information set as well as accounting for other dimensions of endogeneity such as simultaneity and the unobserved heterogeneity. Policy implications are discussed.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the extant literature by assessing how female ownership of bank accounts complements female inclusive education to reduce female unemployment.
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Imran Khan and Darshita Fulara Gunwant
The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the impact of social inclusion factors and foreign fund inflows on reducing gender-based unemployment in India.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the impact of social inclusion factors and foreign fund inflows on reducing gender-based unemployment in India.
Design/methodology/approach
A time series data set for the period of 1991–2021 has been considered, and an autoregressive distributed lag methodology has been applied to measure the short- and long-run impact of social inclusion and foreign fund inflows on reducing gender-based unemployment in India.
Findings
According to the study’s findings, both social inclusion and foreign fund inflows are critical factors for reducing male unemployment. However, in the case of female unemployment, only social inclusion factors play an important role, whereas foreign fund inflows have no role in it.
Originality/value
Analyzing the factors that affect gender-based unemployment has always been a grey area in literature. There are very few studies that capture gender-based unemployment in India, making this study a novice contribution. Second, it examines the relationship between foreign fund inflows, social inclusion and unemployment, which is another novel area of investigation. Finally, this study provides comprehensive and distinct results for both male and female unemployment that can help policymakers devise gender-based unemployment policies.
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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…
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.
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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…
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.
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Jaakko Pehkonen, Hector Sala and Pablo F. Salvador
This paper aims to provide an account of the unemployment performance of two Nordic countries during their recent labour market booms and slumps.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an account of the unemployment performance of two Nordic countries during their recent labour market booms and slumps.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the empirical models of Karanassou et al., we conduct dynamic simulation exercises and explore the determinants of unemployment.
Findings
The analysis yields two main findings. First, the capital stock was the most important determinant of the unemployment trajectory in both countries. This result appears in all periods considered: in the slump of the early 1990s and the boom of the late 1990s, as well as in the stabilisation period of the early 2000s. Second, the role of the foreign sector on the unemployment trajectory was significant in Finland, its quantitative impact being one‐third of the effect for the capital stock in the first and third periods, and half of the latter in the second period.
Originality/value
The results illustrate the importance of non‐standard labour market variables in examining unemployment trajectories. The findings call for a wider than usual perspective in trying to solve the unemployment problem.
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Estimates a three‐equation model to test various economic hypotheses regarding the relationship between unemployment rate and defence spending in 18 OECD countries during the…
Abstract
Estimates a three‐equation model to test various economic hypotheses regarding the relationship between unemployment rate and defence spending in 18 OECD countries during the period 1962‐1988. Reveals that the relationship which exists between unemployment rate and defence spending is not uniform across countries. Defence spending has a favourable impact on unemployment rate in Germany and Australia, whereas in Denmark it worsens the employment situation. In Australia, Germany and Belgium, non‐defence spending and the unemployment rate are causally independent. Defence spending appears to act as a stablization tool in response to changes in the unemployment rate only in the UK. No significant causal relationship between unemployment rate and either type of spending is revealed in Japan, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Austria, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada and the USA. Observes a few cases of bi‐directional causality between unemployment rate and defence/non‐defence spending. Gives possible explanations for the observed cross‐country variability in causal relation.
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We test the pertinence of the unemployment invariance hypothesis (UIH) for a set of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
Abstract
Purpose
We test the pertinence of the unemployment invariance hypothesis (UIH) for a set of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
Design/methodology/approach
We empirically investigate the nexus between unemployment and labour force participation employing structural vector autoregressive methods for panel data.
Findings
We find that shocks in unemployment produce long-lasting, negative effects on participation, testifying to a discouraged worker effect.
Originality/value
Our results do not support the validity of the UIH in high-income economies. This has relevant implications for policy making and macroeconomic models.
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The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate whether social contacts can mediate the way in which current unemployment impacts future unemployment.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate whether social contacts can mediate the way in which current unemployment impacts future unemployment.
Design/methodology/approach
We use 2006–2017 data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and a dynamic random-effects model to describe the evolution of individual unemployment status over time.
Findings
Once controlled for the local context where individuals live and create friendships, we find that above-average social contacts reduce unemployment persistence. However, social contacts seem to be slightly less effective in deprived neighborhoods. These findings are consistent with the idea that individuals obtain information about job opportunities through a network of social contacts, and unemployment may lead to a decay of social capital, making it more difficult to find employment in future periods. Our results also show that neighborhood deprivation increases individual unemployment risk, while above-average neighborhood cohesion reduces the probability of unemployment in deprived neighborhoods.
Originality/value
Although many studies have been published on unemployment persistence, to the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study quantifying the impact of social contacts on unemployment persistence. The study also offers fresh empirical evidence on the impact of neighborhood characteristics on unemployment risk.
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Khaled Elorabi, Suryati Ishak and Mohamed Maher
Previous literature has investigated the connection amongst remittances, political stability and unemployment in remittance-receiving economies separately. Besides, they did not…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous literature has investigated the connection amongst remittances, political stability and unemployment in remittance-receiving economies separately. Besides, they did not cover the Middle East and North African (MENA) region.
Design/methodology/approach
To this end, this research uses the pooled mean group (PMG) method.
Findings
The findings suggest that the influence of remittances on lowering unemployment accelerates in recipient economies with high levels of political stability.
Practical implications
Policymakers in MENA countries should vigorously pursue political stability, which plays a crucial role in boosting the influence of inward remittances on unemployment alleviation. This is accomplished by establishing solid institutions that contribute to ensuring fair politics, increasing citizens' trust in the government, enhancing the rule of law and protecting investors and prioritizing policies and programs that promote political stability.
Originality/value
This paper, therefore, aspires to empirically examine the impacts of inward remittances on unemployment via the moderating role of political stability in thirteen MENA-receiving countries from 1996 to 2020.
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