Gender gaps in unemployment rates in OECD countries

There is an enormous literature on gender gaps in pay and labour market participation but virtually no literature on gender gaps in unemployment rates. Although there are some countries in which there is essentially no gender gap in unemployment, there are others in which the female unemployment rate is substantially above the male. Although it is easy to give plausible reasons for why more women than men may decide not to want work, it is not so obvious why, once they have decided they want a job, women in some countries are less likely to be in employment than men. This is the subject of this paper. We show that, in countries where there is a large gender gap in unemployment rates, there is a gender gap in both flows from employment into unemployment and from unemployment into employment. We investigate different hypotheses about the sources of these gaps. Most hypotheses find little support in the data and the gender gap in unemployment rates (like the gender gap in pay) remains largely unexplained. But it does seem to correlate with attitudes on whether men are more deserving of work than women so that discrimination against women may explain part of the gender gap in unemployment rates in the Mediterranean countries

In-work poverty in the East Midlands

Research that explores the nature and scale of in-work poverty in the East Midlands, using several established measures

Ethnic enclaves and employment in England and Wales

This paper examines the effects of ethnic enclaves on the employment probability of ethnic minorities living in England and Wales. Controlling for the endogeneity of residential location we find that living in a high own ethnic concentration area has no systematic effect across all ethnic groups. However, once we disaggregate we find that for some ethnic groups (Indians) enclaves seem to have a positive and significant impact on their employment probability while for other groups (Caribbeans and African-Asians), enclaves have a negative and significant impact. These results are non-trivial and are in accordance with a set of theoretical views in this literature that argue that ethnic spatial concentration can have positive as well as negative effects. The perceived disadvantages of ethnic enclaves are not omnipresent. What seem to be driving this are the differences in the quality of ethnic enclaves where Indian enclaves by being more dynamic in terms of self-employment create more jobs for others within the enclave

Spatial Dependence and the Determinants of Child Births in Swedish Municipalities 1974-2002

The overall Swedish total fertility rate (TFR) has been shown to fluctuate quite dramatically during the last 40 years, from 2.4 in 1965 reaching down as low as 1.5 in 1999. Although numerous studies in the past have tried to explain this fluctuation, there has been surprisingly little focus on impacts from local or even regional differences. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyse, for the first time, whether there exists a significant dispersion in the number of child births normalised by the number of fertile women among Swedish municipalities for the period 1974-2002 and then provide an explanation for occurred differences. Regional differences, as well as the presence of spatial dependence, are first confirmed in an exploratory spatial data analysis. Particularly noticeable is the volatility and how local hotspots emerge and disappear during the study period. Subsequent regression analyses are performed for a selected number of years where we solve for spatial dependence and use economic-, institutional-, sociological-, and geographical characteristics of the municipalities as explanatory variables.

Spatial Correlates of U.S. Heights and BMIs, 2002

Aiming to further explore possible underlying causes for the recent stagnation in American heights, this paper describes the result of analysis of the commercial U.S. Sizing Survey. Using zip codes available in the data set, we consider geographic correlates of height such as local poverty rate, median income, and population density. We find that after adjusting for variables known to influence height such as income and education, population density is negatively correlated with height among white men, but only marginally among white women. Similar analysis of Body Mass Index (BMI) also shows a negative correlation with population density after adjustment for income, education, and age for both sexes. Local economic conditions as measured by median income, unemployment rate or poverty rate do not have a strong correlation with height or weight after adjusting for individual income and education

HAPPINESS OVER SPACE AND TIME

Hedonic theory assumes that changes in land prices and wage rates eliminate the utility advantages of differing locations. Using happiness data from the German socio-economic panel this paper empirically tests whether regional utility differences exist and if so whether utility levels show any tendency to converge over time. Empirical analysis reveals substantial differences in utility over different regions of Germany. Analysing a panel of data indicates that even if individual utility levels are at any one moment in disequilibrium they are rapidly converging over Germany for all types of individuals.amenity value, Happiness

Atmospheric Pollution, Environmental Justice and Mortality Rate : a Spatial Approach

This paper presents the first study of environmental inequality related to health in France at the national scale. Through an econometric analysis based on a panel data from 2000 to 2004 at a department level, we investigate total mortality rate in relation to socioeconomic status and air pollution. Concentration level of CO, SO2, NO2, NO, O3 and PM10 are estimated by spatial interpolation from local observations of a network of monitoring stations. By running a multivariate model, we first investigate the relationship between socioeconomic factors and total mortality rate ; then, we make the link with environmental air quality measured within the department. Unemployment plays an important role in affecting the mortality rate. Pollutant concentration level are divided into two risk categories (low and high) at the median. We find a positive and significative relationship between NO2 and mortality rate especially at high concentration level of NO2 with a relative risk more important for women. Besides, NO2 level tends to modify the effect of unemployment on mortality rate. These results not only confirm the existence of short term relationships between current air pollution levels and mortality but also raise questions about environmental justice in France.Inequality, air pollution, air quality, environmental economics, environmental health and safety, environmental impact, environmental equity, mortality rate, spatial auto-correlation.

Measuring the geography of opportunity

Quantitative segregation research focuses almost exclusively on the spatial sorting of demographic groups. This research largely ignores the structural characteristics of neighborhoods – such as crime, job accessibility, and school quality – that likely help determine important household outcomes. This paper summarizes the research on segregation, neighborhood effects, and concentrated disadvantage, and argues that we should pay more attention to neighborhood structural characteristics, and that the data increasingly exist to include measures of spatial segregation and neighborhood opportunity. The paper concludes with a brief empirical justification for the inclusion of data on neighborhood violence and a discussion on policy applications

Gender Gaps in Unemployment Rates in OECD Countries

There is an enormous literature on gender gaps in pay and labour market participation but virtually noliterature on gender gaps in unemployment rates. Although there are some countries in which there isessentially no gender gap in unemployment, there are others in which the female unemployment rate issubstantially above the male. Although it is easy to give plausible reasons for why more women than menmay decide not to want work, it is not so obvious why, once they have decided they want a job, women insome countries are less likely to be in employment than men. This is the subject of this paper. We showthat, in countries where there is a large gender gap in unemployment rates, there is a gender gap in bothflows from employment into unemployment and from unemployment into employment. We investigatedifferent hypotheses about the sources of these gaps. Most hypotheses find little support in the data and thegender gap in unemployment rates (like the gender gap in pay) remains largely unexplained. But it doesseem to correlate with attitudes on whether men are more deserving of work than women so thatdiscrimination against women may explain part of the gender gap in unemployment rates in theMediterranean countries.Gender Gap, Unemployment Rates

Are married women spatially constrained? A test of gender differentials in labour market outcomes

Numerous studies have shown that females fare less well than males in terms of relative earnings and occupational attainment, but few acknowledge the role played by differential gender migration patterns. This paper examines the relationship between marital status, spatial migration and various aspects of female labour market outcomes. It builds on the existing literature by analysing the issue for the first time using British data and focuses particularly on the possibility of constrained migration resulting in overeducation. Our research utilises the only British dataset - the Social Change and Economic Life Initiative (SCELI) dataset - that allows the measurement of overeducation alongside other dimensions of labour market outcomes.