Estimates of structural unemployment rates at a regional level: example of the Czech economy

Abstract

While there are typically plenty of estimates of structural unemployment rate for an economy as a whole, the analysis of this phenomenon at the regional level is rather sparse. Of course, the task is quite different as the concept of structural unemployment as an image of the medium-run or long-run equilibrium of the economy does not need to hold at a regional level. This paper proposes an econometrical approach based on the search theory of the labor market. The generalized method of moments is employed to estimate the so-called stationarized unemployment rates in the fourteen regions of the Czech economy. By comparing the estimates and actually observed levels of unemployment rates, the effects of economic upswings and recessions after the year 2000 may be analyzed. Indeed, from the regional perspective the economic impacts differ substantially in certain periods of time.

Labour market efficiency and emigration in Slovakia and EU neighbouring countries

“…It should be noted that since 2013, the economic growth of the Czech Republic has hastened as a result of significant export dynamism that boosted the country's competitiveness (Hudcovsk y et al, 2017;Simionescu et al, 2018). The key driver of growth has been public investment financed by EU structural funds, especially in 2015 (Halka & Szafra nski, 2018;Markus, 2018;OECD, 2018;Posta, 2018;Skufli c & Vu ckovi c, 2018;Waehning et al, 2018). Public expenditure on research and development, which has doubled in the preceding 15 years, triggered infrastructure modernisation, healthy public budgets, improvement of an investment climate characterised by higher security and openness and productivity-oriented wage development, which ultimately triggered a decrease in the unemployment rate.…”

Labour Market Disadvantages Faced by Migrant Workers from Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia in Britain

“…For example, about 14 per cent of UK nationals were reported in under-qualified (1 or 2 levels mismatch) whereas from 21.9 per cent to 25.2 per cent of A3 nationals were identified in this level of under-qualification. In other words, many A3 migrants were employed in positions requiring skills at a higher level than what their qualifications may represent (Blazkova and Dvoulety, 2017;Posta, 2018).…”