Youth Unemployment, Labor Market Transitions, and Scarring : Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2001-04

Fares, Jean; Tiongson, Erwin R.

Youth Unemployment, Labor Market Transitions, and Scarring : Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2001-04

Autores

Fares, Jean

Tiongson, Erwin R.

Editor

World Bank, Washington, DC

Descripción

Relatively little is known about youth unemployment and its lasting consequences in transition economies, despite the difficult labor market adjustment experienced by these countries over the past decade. The authors examine early unemployment spells and their longer-term effects among the youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), where the labor market transition is made more difficult by the challenges of a post-conflict environment. They use panel data covering up to 4,800 working-age individuals over the 2001 to 2004 period. There are three main findings from their analysis. First, youth unemployment is high-about twice the national average-consistent with recent findings from the BiH labor market study. Younger workers are more likely to go into inactivity or unemployment and are also less likely to transition out of inactivity, holding other things constant. Second, initial spells of unemployment or joblessness appear to have lasting adverse effects on earnings and employment ("scarring"). But there is no evidence that the youth are at a greater risk of scarring, or suffer disproportionately worse outcomes from initial joblessness, compared with other age groups. Third, higher educational attainment is generally associated with more favorable labor market outcomes. Skilled workers are less likely to be jobless and are less likely to transition from employment into joblessness. But there is evidence that the penalty from jobless spells may also be higher for more educated workers. The authors speculate that this may be due in part to signaling or stigma, consistent with previous findings in the literature.

Palabras clave

ADULT WORKERS, AGE AT MARRIAGE, AGE GROUP, AGE GROUPS, AGED, AGEING, AGGREGATE UNEMPLOYMENT, AGGREGATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, AVERAGE AGE, AVERAGE AGE AT MARRIAGE, AVERAGE UNEMPLOYMENT, AVERAGE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, BULLETIN, BUSINESS CYCLES, CIVIL CONFLICT, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DISADVANTAGED YOUTH, DISPLACED WORKERS, DISPLACEMENT, EARNING, EARNINGS REGRESSION, EARNINGS REGRESSIONS, EAST EUROPE, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EMPLOYMENT HISTORIES, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES, EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK, EMPLOYMENT POLICY, EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, EMPLOYMENT TRENDS, FORMAL SECTOR WORKERS, GENDER DIFFERENCES, HEALTH CARE, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HUMAN CAPITAL, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, JOB DISPLACEMENT, JOB LOSS, JOB SEARCH, JOBLESS RATE, JOBS, LABOR FORCE, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKET ADJUSTMENT, LABOR MARKET EXPERIENCE, LABOR MARKET EXPERIENCES, LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES, LABOR MARKETS, LABOR REALLOCATION, LABOR RELATIONS, LABOUR, LABOUR MARKET, LABOUR MARKETS, LABOUR OFFICE, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIVING STANDARDS, LOCAL ECONOMY, LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT, LOW UNEMPLOYMENT, LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, MALE WORKERS, MALE YOUTH, MARITAL STATUS, MIDDLE EAST, MINIMUM WAGE, NATIONAL LEVEL, NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT, NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, OCCUPATION, OLDER WORKERS, PERSISTENT UNEMPLOYMENT, PLANT CLOSURE, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POST SECONDARY EDUCATION, PREVIOUS SECTION, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIME AGE, PROBIT REGRESSION, PROGRESS, PUBLIC POLICY, RURAL AREAS, SCHOOL TO WORK TRANSITION, SELF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLED WORKERS, SOCIAL PROGRESS, SOCIAL PROTECTION, TEENAGE WOMEN, TRANSITION, UNEMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED WORKERS, UNEMPLOYED YOUTH, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCES, UNEMPLOYMENT INDICATORS, UNEMPLOYMENT SPELL, UNEMPLOYMENT SPELLS, UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, UNSKILLED WORKERS, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, WAGE DETERMINATION, WAGE EFFECTS, WAGE GROWTH, WAGE LEVELS, WAGES, WESTERN EUROPE, WORK FORCE, WORKER, WORKFORCE, WORKING POPULATION, WORKING-AGE POPULATION, YOUNG ADULT, YOUNG ADULTS, YOUNG MALE, YOUNG MEN, YOUNG PEOPLE, YOUNG WOMEN, YOUNG WORKERS, YOUNGER WOMEN, YOUNGER WORKERS, YOUTH EMPLOYMENT, YOUTH LABOR, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES