El desempleo español : factores estructurales

El paro es uno de los problemas más importantes de la economía española y del resto de economías europeas. Un posible análisis, ampliamente extendido en la literatura reciente, considera el desajuste existente entre la oferta y la demanda de trabajo como posible causante de esta situación. En este sentido, la relación empírica entre la tasa de paro y la tasa de vacantes, la denominada curva UV o de Beveridge, ofrece un instrumento para caracterizar el paro d'una economía determinada. Diferentes estudios, como por ejemplo, Jackman et. al. (1983) o Pissarides (1985) entre otros, consideran que los desplazamientos de la curva de Beveridge pueden interpretarse como variaciones del paro estructural. La identificación de estos desplazamientos puede dar información relevante para diseñar políticas económicas adecuadas. El principal objetivo de este trabajo es el de identificar los desplazamientos de la curva de Beveridge para la economía española durante el período 1978-96 utilizando datos anuales de la Encuesta de Población Activa (INE) y de Estadística de Empleo (INEM). Dado que ambas fuentes facilitan la información desagregada territorialmente, se puede construir un panel de datos regionales que permite analizar un amplio conjunto de factores que pueden explicar el desplazamiento de la curva, un posible cambio en la elasticidad de la tasa de paro respeto a la tasa de vacantes, así como también valorar la existencia de diferentes comportamientos regionales en el proceso de emparejamiento de trabajos con trabajadores- Unemployment is one of the most important problems of the Spanish and European economies. A possible analysis, vastly extended in recent literature, focuses on mismatch problems between labour demand and supply. In this sense, the empirical relationship between the vacancy rate and the unemployment rate, the so-called Beveridge curve or UV curve, offers an instrument to characterise the unemployment of the considered economy. Different studies, such as Jackman et al. (1983) and Pissarides (1985) among others, point out that outward shifts of the Beveridge curve can be interpreted as increases in structural unemployment. The identification of these shifts provide some useful information that can be used for policy-making. The main objective of this paper is to identify the outward shifts of the Beveridge curve for the Spanish economy in the period 1978-96 using annual data from the Encuesta de Población Activa (INE) and the Estadística de Empleo, INEM. As both sources provide regional disaggregated data, it is possible to use a regional panel data to analyse a wide pool of factors that can explain the outward shift of the UV curve, a possible change in the elasticity of the unemployment rate with respect to the vacancy rate and the existence of different regional behaviours in the process of job-matchingL'atur és un dels problemes més importants de l'economia espanyola i la resta d'economies europees. Una possible anàlisi, àmpliament estesa en la literatura recent, considera el desajust existent entre la oferta i la demanda de treball com a possible causant d¿aquesta situació. En aquest sentit, la relació empírica entre la taxa d'atur i la taxa de vacants, l'anomenada corba UV o de Beveridge, ofereix un instrument per a caracteritzar l¿atur d'una economia determinada. Diferents estudis, com per exemple, Jackman et al. (1983) o Pissarides (1985) entre d'altres, consideren que els desplaçaments de la corba de Beveridge poden interpretar-se com a variacions de l'atur estructural. La identificació d'aquests desplaçaments pot donar informació rellevant per tal de dissenyar polítiques econòmiques adients. El principal objectiu d'aquest treball és el d'identificar els desplaçaments de la corba de Beveridge per a la economia espanyola durant el periode 1978-96 utilitzant dades anuals de la Encuesta de Población Activa (INE) i de Estadística de Empleo (INEM). Donat que ambdues fonts faciliten la informació desagregada territorialment, es pot construir un pannell de dades regionals que permetanalitzar un ampli conjunt de factors que poden explicar el desplaçament de la corba, un possible canvi en l¿elasticitat de la taxa d'atur respecte a la taxa de vacants, així com també valorar l'existència de diferents comportaments regionals en el procés d'emparellament de treballs amb treballador

Building a Quality in Work index in Spain

The European Union launched the Lisbon Strategy in 2000 with the aim of establishing itself as the world’s most competitive knowledge-based economy. At the same time, job quality was placed at the top of the European employment and social policy agenda and, later, it was to be incorporated as part of the European Employment and Europe-2020 Strategies. However, in a climate of economic crisis, it is argued that the price we are paying for continued economic growth is the dehumanisation of labour relationships with good jobs being substituted by bad jobs. In order to appraise such claims, scholars require quantifiable measures. The aim of this study is to define and apply a composite index of the quality in work in Spain. We present the results for the period 2001 to 2009. Our measure adopts the dimensional framework provided by the European Commission, and we present our results by region, sector, professional category and firm size. We find that the best results are recorded in the most developed regions, in the service sector, in the largest firms and in jobs in which workers are entrusted with most responsibility

An Institutional, Social and Economic Performance Index, ISEPI, with an application to the European Neighbourhood Policy

In this paper we design and build a composite indicator to measure the macroeconomic, social and institutional dimensions of countries, ISEPI. The index allows not only comparing the relative situation of countries, but also its time evolution. In order to illustrate the usefulness of the index, we analyse the effects of the European Neighbourhood Policy in EU-Neighbouring Countries during the last decade. The obtained results show that ENP has had different effects according to the considered dimensions and that the evolution of neighbouring countries is quite heterogeneous taking into account their recent institutional and economic performance. From a policy perspective, these results reinforce the validity of the bilateral action plans that have characterized ENP recognising the different starting point and particular characteristics of each neighbouring country

The institutional vs. the academic definition of the quality of work life. What is the focus of the European Commission?

In recent years, we have seen how the quality of work life has been focused and defined by the European Commission (EC). In our study we compare the EC definition with the academic one and try to see how close they are. We also analyse the possibility of applying the institutional definition to the Spanish case through the development of specific indicators. Our main conclusions are that QWL is increasingly important for policy makers. In addition, it is essential to have objective indicators and to conduct surveys in order to reliably measure QWL

Unemployment forecasts, time varying coefficient models and the Okun's law in Spanish regions

During the Great Recession, output and unemployment responses have differed markedly across Spanish regions. Our objective is to evaluate the relative accuracy of forecasting models based on the Okun's law compared to alternative approaches. In particular, we want to analyse if a time varying coefficient specification of the Okun's law provide better forecasts than alternative models in two different periods: a first period from 2002 to 2007 characterized by sustained economic growth in all provinces, and a second period from 2008 to 2013 characterized by the impact of the Great Recession. The obtained results allow us to conclude that, in general, the use of these models improve the forecasting capacity in most regions, but do not provide reliable forecast

Computing Practices in Statistics I and Statistics II Business and Management Degree Faculty of Economy and Business University of Barcelona

List of computing practices that we develop in different courses of Statistics in the Business and Management degree. It covers descriptive analysis using MicroSoftExcel, computing probabilities using MicroSoftExcel, computing confidence Intervals using MicroSoftExcel and carrying out statistics test hypothesis using Gretl

Minimum wages, youth employment and spatial spillovers: New evidence for Spain

The effect of minimum wages increases on youth employment level has been extensively analysed, but recent contributions have highlighted the potential bias in these studies due to neglected spatial autocorrelation in the considered relationship. This paper contributes to this scarce literature by providing novel evidence for a country with very low interregional mobility. The aim is to see if the bias of neglecting spatial dependence acts in a similar direction than in the few studies for the United States and if this bias explains the low elasticity of youth employment to minimum wages in Spain compared to the international literature. Our results show the relevance of spatial spillovers in the Spanish regional labour markets, but after correcting for the bias, we do not find a significant negative elasticity of youth employment to minimum wages, with the only exception of those between 16 and 19 years old.[Pendent paginació definitiva

Institutional and Socio-Economic Convergence in the European Union

Th objective of this paper is to analyze convergence in institutional, social, and macroeconomic conditions between EU member states. Our analysis covers the period 1995-2013 and considers the potential impact of the Great Recession. With this aim, we use a composite indicator that combines information from 51 hard and soft indicators, and we estimate convergence equations for the composite indicator and its seven dimensions considering diffrent country groups. The obtained results show evidence of conditional convergence among EU member states but limited evidence of unconditional convergence over the considered period