Regional Unemployment in the EU before and after the Global Crisis
Coauthored with E. Marelli and M. Signorelli, published in 'Post-Communist Economies' 24 (2): 155–75. ISI impact factor (2010): 0.362
This article empirically assesses the evolution of European regions in terms of both employment and unemployment... more This article empirically assesses the evolution of European regions in terms of both employment and unemployment during the recent financial crisis and global recession. Our specific research questions are as follows: (i) has there been a reversal in employment and unemployment dynamics at a regional level during the crisis (2007–10) compared with the previous period (2004–07)? (ii) have the western regions (‘old’ EU states) behaved differently in response to the crisis compared with the eastern regions (NMS)? Finally, (iii) are the differences between the two groups of regions related to structural or institutional variables? After a review of the literature on the key determinants of regional unemployment, we summarise our main findings concerning the impact of the global crisis on the labour market. Our econometric investigation aims to answer the questions we pose. Structural characteristics are considered in terms of sector specialisation of regional economies. In addition, we consider certain institutional characteristics, by including indicators of the share of temporary workers and of long-term unemployed. Our analysis is then targeted at sub-samples of western and eastern European regions: we show that the critical factors for labour market performance during the crisis in these two groups differ greatly. From a methodological viewpoint, we exploit a spatial filtering technique which allowed us to greatly reduce any unobserved variable bias – a significant problem in cross-sectional models – by accounting for latent unobserved spatial patterns.
Who are the commuters? A microdata analysis of travel-to-work
Casado Díaz, JM (2001) “Who are the commuters? A microdata analysis of travel-to-work”, en F. Columbus (edit.) European Economic and Political Issues, Nueva York: Nova Science Publishers, 25-50.
In this paper the determinants of the individual decision of commuting are analysed through a logistic regression... more In this paper the determinants of the individual decision of commuting are analysed through a logistic regression analysis conducted using individual data from the Spanish 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings for the region of Valencia (one of the few Spanish regions where the question “place of work” was included in the Census form). For so doing commuting is treated as a dichotomous variable that is assigned the value of one when the individual commutes between different localities and the value zero in the opposite case. This transformed variable is explained through a simple utility model in which commuting is a function of three different vectors of personal, professional and environmental characteristics. These vectors integrate many of the variables that have been considered fundamental by previous literature. In the section devoted to the discussion of the model the results are interpreted putting them in relation with previous research. In the following section the utility model for explaining commuting and its estimation through a logistic regression is formalised and the set of variables finally included briefly justified.
La diversidad de los mercados laborales locales de la Comunidad Valenciana (The diversity of local labour markets in the Region of Valencia - text in Spanish)
Casado Díaz, JM (2001) “La diversidad de los mercados laborales locales de la Comunidad Valenciana”, Áreas urbanas y movilidad en España, Girona: Universitat de Girona; 61-92.
Diferencias de género en los desplazamientos cotidianos por razones laborales (Gender differences in commuting - text in Spanish)
Casado Díaz, JM (2000) Diferencias de género en los desplazamientos cotidianos por razones laborales, IVIE Working Papers WP-EC 2000-03.
Abstract: The lack of mobility of labour constitutes a potential source of labour market segmentation. This paper... more
Abstract: The lack of mobility of labour constitutes a potential source of labour market segmentation. This paper shows through the use of individual data that different groups of workers develop their daily labour activities in geographical spaces which are also different. It quantifies in a separate way, for male and female workers, to what extent a set of personal, professional and place of residence features can be associated with a higher or lower probability of commuting. Tentative explanations of the diverse Travel-to-Work patterns and some labour policy implications are also explored in the paper.
La falta de movilidad geográfica de los trabajadores constituye una fuente potencial de segmentación del mercado de trabajo. Esta investigación muestra, a partir de datos individuales, que los ámbitos espaciales en los que diversos grupos de trabajadores realizan cotidianamente sus actividades laborales son distintos y cuantifica de forma separada para hombres y mujeres en qué medida la presencia de un conjunto de características personales, profesionales y del lugar de residencia se asocia a una mayor o menor movilidad cotidiana por razones laborales. En el trabajo también se analizan las posibles explicaciones de estos comportamientos y se señalan algunas de sus consecuencias en materia de política de empleo.
Keywords: movilidad cotidiana por razones laborales; mercados locales de trabajo; diferencias de género; flujos pendulares; movilidad obligada commuting; local labour markets; gender differences
Mercados laborales locales. Análisis preliminar del caso valenciano (Local labour markets. A preliminary analysis of the Spanish case - text in Spanish)
Casado Díaz, JM (1996) "Mercados laborales locales", Revista de Estudios Regionales, vol. 45; 129-155.
Este trabajo ha sido realizado bajo el patrocinio de la Conselleria d'Educació i Ciencia de la Generalitat Valenciana dentro del proyecto de investigación "Factores de rigidez en los mercados de trabajo. Un anįlisis aplicado a los mercados laborales locales de la Comunidad Valenciana" (ref.GV-2455/94).
This paper deals with the question of local labour market areas (LLMAs) and in it we defend their role as an optimal... more
This paper deals with the question of local labour market areas (LLMAs) and in it we defend their role as an optimal division of geographical space to reflect the spatial organization of labour market. These areas are defined by borders which are crossed only by an insignificant number of workers in their travel to work. In the second part we broadly discuss about the usefulness of a regionalization carried out on the basis of this definition and the limitations of such a process. Then, in the third section we describe the algorithm used in Great Britain for the definition of Travel-to-Work Areas (TTWAs) which can be considered to be the most operative version of LLMAs concept. Finally in the fourth part we concentrate on the statistical sources, firstly describing the British statistics and then the ones available in the Spanish case, concluding with an analysis of the data concerning the region of Valencia.
En este papel se aborda la cuestión de los mercados laborales locales (MLL) y se defiende su carįcter de división óptima del espacio geogrįfico para reflejar la organización espacial del mercado de trabajo. Estas įreas son definidas por fronteras que sólo son cruzadas por un nśmero irrelevante de trabajadores en los desplazamientos diarios que éstos efectśan entre sus lugares de residencia y de trabajo. En el segundo apartado se discute ampliamente sobre la utilidad de una regionalización llevada a cabo a partir de un concepto como el propuesto, sin olvidar las limitaciones que este proceso conlleva. Mįs tarde, en el tercer apartado, se describe el algoritmo usado en el Reino Unido para la definición de las Travel-to-Work Areas (TTWAs), que pueden ser consideradas como la versión mįs operativa de los MLL. Finalmente, en el apartado cuarto se realiza un repaso de las fuentes estadķsticas, describiendo primero las usadas en el Reino Unido y, posteriormente, aquellas que estįn disponibles en el caso espańol, para concluir con un anįlisis de los datos referidos a la Comunidad Valenciana.
Movilidad por razón de trabajo en Andalucía. 2001 (Commuting in Andalusia, 2001 - text in Spanish)
Feria Toribio, JM; Susino Arbucias, J; Casado Díaz, JM et al. (2005) Movilidad por razón de trabajo en Andalucía. 2001, Sevilla: Instituto de Estadística de Andalucía.
En el Censo de Población de 1991 el Instituto de Estadística de Andalucía (IEA) incluyó una pregunta adicional, no... more
En el Censo de Población de 1991 el Instituto de Estadística de Andalucía (IEA) incluyó una pregunta adicional, no contemplada a nivel nacional, relativa a los desplazamientos de naturaleza cotidiana realizada por trabajadores y estudiantes desde su lugar de residencia a los de trabajo o estudio, respectivamente. La explotación de dicha pregunta permitió por primera vez en nuestra región disponer de una información de indudable interés, que fue completada con la realización de un estudio sobre la movilidad por razón de trabajo en Andalucía. Diez años más tarde en el Censo de Población de 2001 se reconoce la importancia de esta variable al incorporarla por primera vez en todo el territorio nacional.
En colaboración con la Universidad Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla, el IEA ha vuelto a realizar un análisis de la movilidad por razón de trabajo, que permite conocer los cambios en la intensidad y las características de este tipo de movilidad cotidiana en nuestra Comunidad Autónoma.
Movilidad cotidiana y mercados locales de trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana, 1991-2001 (Commuting and Local Labour Markets in the Region of Valencia, Spain, 1991-2001 - text in Spanish - long abstract in English)
Salom Carrasco, J. y Casado Díaz, JM (2007) “Movilidad cotidiana y mercados locales de trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana, 1991-2001”, Boletín de la AGE, nº. 44, 5-28.
Los autores agradecen el apoyo del Ministerio de Fomento, dentro del Plan Nacional de I+D+i en materia de transporte (proyecto Movilidad residencia-trabajo: nuevos métodos para el análisis de sus determinantes y efectos, MOVICO, ref. T 75/2006.
En este trabajo se analiza la evolución de la movilidad residencia-trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana entre 1991 y... more
En este trabajo se analiza la evolución de la movilidad residencia-trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana entre 1991 y 2001 y se delimitan para ambos años los mercados locales de trabajo (MLT) valencianos mediante una variación del procedimiento empleado en el Reino Unido para la definición de las denominadas Travel-to-Work Areas. Esta regionalización permite superar el concepto administrativo de municipio/ciudad e identificar áreas funcionales coherentes con los nuevos modelos urbanos derivados del aumento generalizado de la movilidad de la población y el surgimiento de la ‘ciudad difusa’.
Palabras clave: movilidad residencia-trabajo (commuting), mercados locales de trabajo, áreas funcionales, Comunidad Valenciana.
Long abstract in English: http://age.ieg.csic.es/boletin/44/16-salom-articles.pdf
On the rewards to education in Spain: endogeneity and regional differences
Lillo-Bañuls, A. y Casado-Díaz, J.M. (2010) "On the rewards to education in Spain: endogeneity and regional differences", Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Vol. 10, nº 2, 37-53.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and ERDF, project SEJ2007-67767-C04-02. The authors would also like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Immigration for facilitating the access to the individual data from the Survey on the Quality of Life in the Workplace.
This paper presents empirical evidence on the returns to education in Spain using the Survey on the Quality of Life in... more
This paper presents empirical evidence on the returns to education in Spain using the Survey on the Quality of Life in the Workplace. Five waves of the survey have been pooled to build a dataset for which Mincer-type earning functions are estimated. Unlike other analyses experience is computed as actual and not potential experience, and a variable capturing periods of unemployment is also included to better approach the underlying concept, this being specially relevant given high unemployment rates in Spain and average length of these periods among certain groups. We calculate the returns to education for male workers following the simplest Mincer’s specification estimated by (a) OLS and (b) instrumental variables (IV) techniques as a means to deal with endogeneity concerns regarding schooling and find that returns to education for male salaried workers are 5.68 (OLS) and 7.37 (IV with a family background instrument) giving evidence of a slightly declining trend in the rate of return to education in Spain. The consideration of schooling attainment as qualifications allow relaxing Mincer’s underlying hypothesis of linearity of the returns to education in schooling. Evidence against this assumption is displayed. We also test the parallelism of log-earnings experience profiles across schooling levels. The empirical analysis is finally extended by focusing on regional differences.
JEL Classification: J24, I21
Keywords: returns to education, Mincer earning functions, Spain, human capital
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Download (.pdf) An evolutive approach for the delineation of local labour markets
Flórez-Revuelta, F.; Casado-Díaz, J.M. y Martínez-Bernabeu, L. (2006) “An evolutive approach for the delineation of local labour markets” Parallel Problem Solving from Nature - PPSN IX, serie Lecture Notes in Computer Science vol. 4193, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 342-351.
This paper presents a new approach to the delineation of local labour markets based on evolutionary computation. The... more This paper presents a new approach to the delineation of local labour markets based on evolutionary computation. The main objective is the regionalisation of a given territory into functional regions based on commuting flows. According to the relevant literature, such regions are defined so that (a) their boundaries are rarely crossed in daily journeys to work, and (b) a high degree of intra-area movement exists. This proposal merges municipalities into functional regions by maximizing a fitness function that measures aggregate intra-region interaction under constraints of inter-region separation and minimum size. Real results are presented based on the latest database from the Census of Population in the Region of Valencia. Comparison between the results obtained through the official method which currently is most widely used (that of British Travel-to-Work Areas) and those from our approach is also presented, showing important improvements in terms of both the number of different market areas identified that meet the statistical criteria and the degree of aggregate intra-market interaction.
Transformaciones sociales y territoriales en el incremento de la movilidad por razón de trabajo en Andalucía (Territorial and Social Changes and the Increase of Commuting in Andalusia - text in Spanish)
Susino, J.; Casado Díaz, JM y Feria, JM (2007) “Transformaciones sociales y territoriales en el incremento de la movilidad por razón de trabajo en Andalucía”, Cuadernos de Geografía, nº. 81-82; 71-92.
Entre 1991 y 2001, tal como se deduce de la información de los censos de población de ambos años, se ha producido un... more Entre 1991 y 2001, tal como se deduce de la información de los censos de población de ambos años, se ha producido un importante incremento de la movilidad en Andalucía por razón de trabajo, especialmente de los desplazamientos entre municipios cercanos. Este trabajo indaga sobre los factores relacionados como causas, y también como consecuencias, con tal incremento. En primer lugar, los cambios en la estructura sectorial, ocupacional y socioeconómica de la población ocupada. En segundo lugar, la ampliación espacial de los mercados locales de trabajo. Y, en tercer lugar, la evolución de la organización espacial de la movilidad, especialmente de la movilidad metropolitana. La conclusión es que la mayoría de los factores considerados han contribuido al aumento de la movilidad. Sin embargo, las transformaciones de la organización y estructura del sistema urbano, aunque son consecuencia parcial de cambios en la estructura ocupacional y en los mercados locales de trabajo, son también su causa principal.
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Movilidad cotidiana y mercados locales de trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana, 1991-2001 (Commuting and Local Labour Markets in the Region of Valencia, Spain, 1991-2001 - text in Spanish - long abstract in English)
Salom Carrasco, J. y Casado Díaz, JM (2007) “Movilidad cotidiana y mercados locales de trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana, 1991-2001”, Boletín de la AGE, nº. 44, 5-28.
Los autores agradecen el apoyo del Ministerio de Fomento, dentro del Plan Nacional de I+D+i en materia de transporte (proyecto Movilidad residencia-trabajo: nuevos métodos para el análisis de sus determinantes y efectos, MOVICO, ref. T 75/2006.
En este trabajo se analiza la evolución de la movilidad residencia-trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana entre 1991 y... more
En este trabajo se analiza la evolución de la movilidad residencia-trabajo en la Comunidad Valenciana entre 1991 y 2001 y se delimitan para ambos años los mercados locales de trabajo (MLT) valencianos mediante una variación del procedimiento empleado en el Reino Unido para la definición de las denominadas Travel-to-Work Areas. Esta regionalización permite superar el concepto administrativo de municipio/ciudad e identificar áreas funcionales coherentes con los nuevos modelos urbanos derivados del aumento generalizado de la movilidad de la población y el surgimiento de la ‘ciudad difusa’.
Palabras clave: movilidad residencia-trabajo (commuting), mercados locales de trabajo, áreas funcionales, Comunidad Valenciana.
Long abstract in English: http://age.ieg.csic.es/boletin/44/16-salom-articles.pdf
A Memetic Algorithm for the Delineation of Local Labour Markets
Flórez-Revuelta, F.; Casado-Díaz, JM; Martínez-Bernabeu, L. and Gómez-Hernández, R. (2008) “A Memetic Algorithm for the Delineation of Local Labour Markets”, Parallel Problem Solving from Nature PPSN X, Berlín: Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 1011-1020.
Acknowledgments. Jos´e M. Casado-D´ıaz has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Transports (Ministerio de Fomento) for the project ”New methods for the analysis of the determinants and effects of commuting flows (MOVICO)” under Grant T 75/2006 (Spanish National Plan of A+D+i). Lucas Mart´ınez-Bernabeu acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, the European Social Fund (ESF) and the University of Alicante. Raúl Gómez-Hernández acknowledges financial support from the University of Alicante.
Given a territory composed of basic geographical units, the delineation of local labour market areas (LLMAs) can be... more
Given a territory composed of basic geographical units, the delineation of local labour market areas (LLMAs) can be seen as a problem in which those units are grouped subject to multiple constraints. In previous research, standard genetic algorithms were not able to find valid solutions, and a specific evolutionary algorithm was developed. The inclusion of multiple ad hoc operators allowed the algorithm to find better solutions than those of a widely-used greedy method. However, the percentage of invalid solutions was still very high. In this paper we improve that evolutionary algorithm through the inclusion of (i) a reparation process, that allows every invalid individual to fulfil the constraints and contribute to the evolution, and (ii) a hillclimbing optimisation procedure for each generated individual by means of an appropriate reassignment of some of its constituent units. We compare the results of both techniques against the previous results and a greedy method.
Keywords memetic algorithm - evolutionary computation - regionalization - zone design - combinatorial optimization
Adaptive Evolutionary Algorithms for the Delineation of Local Labour Markets
Flórez-Revuelta, F.; Casado-Díaz, J.M.; Martínez-Bernabeu, L (2009) “Adaptive Evolutionary Algorithms for the Delineation of Local Labour Markets” IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, CEC 2009, art. no. 4983234, pp. 2354-2360 (ISBN: 978-1-4244-2958-5).
Given a territory composed of basic geographical units, the delineation of local labour market areas (LLMAs) can be... more Given a territory composed of basic geographical units, the delineation of local labour market areas (LLMAs) can be seen as a problem in which those units are grouped subject to multiple constraints. In previous research, standard genetic algorithms were not able to find valid solutions, and a specific evolutionary algorithm was developed. The inclusion of multiple ad hoc operators allowed the algorithm to find better solutions than those of a widely-used greedy method. The experimentation process showed that the rate of success of each operator in generating good individuals is different and evolves with time. We therefore propose different adaptive alternatives that modify the probabilities of application of each operator throughout the evolutionary process, and compare the results of such adaptive approaches with previous results and a greedy method.
An evolutionary approach to the delineation of functional areas based on travel-to-work flows
Flórez-Revuelta, F.; Casado-Díaz, J.M.; Martínez-Bernabeu, L. (2008) “An evolutionary approach to the delineation of functional areas based on travel-to-work flows”, International Journal of Automation and Computing, Vol. 5; nº 1; 10-21.
This work was supported by Spanish National Plan of R+D+i from Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia) for the project Local Labour Markets: New Methods of Delineation and Analysis (No. SEJ2007-67767-C04-02), ERDF, the European Social Fund (ESF) and the University of Alicante.
This paper presents a new approach to the delineation of local labor markets based on evolutionary computation. The... more
This paper presents a new approach to the delineation of local labor markets based on evolutionary computation. The aim of the exercise is the division of a given territory into functional regions based on travel-to-work flows. Such regions are defined so that a high degree of inter-regional separation and of intra-regional integration in both cases in terms of commuting flows is guaranteed. Additional requirements include the absence of overlap between delineated regions and the exhaustive coverage of the whole territory. The procedure is based on the maximization of a fitness function that measures aggregate intra-region interaction under constraints of inter-region separation and minimum size. In the experimentation stage, two variations of the fitness function are used, and the process is also applied as a final stage for the optimization of the results from one of the most successful existing methods, which are used by the British authorities for the delineation of travel-to-work areas (TTWAs). The empirical exercise is conducted using real data for a sufficiently large territory that is considered to be representative given the density and variety of travel-to-work patterns that it embraces. The paper includes the quantitative comparison with alternative traditional methods, the assessment of the performance of the set of operators which has been specifically designed to handle the regionalization problem and the evaluation of the convergence process. The robustness of the solutions, something crucial in a research and policy-making context, is also discussed in the paper.
Keywords Evolutionary computation - regional science - economics - optimization methods
On the Cutting Edge or Out of Bounds? Archaeology Approaches the Frontier (1986)
by Gary Feinman
(Gary M. Feinman, 1986)
Spatial disparity, regional autonomy, and ethnic protest in contemporary democracies: A panel data analysis, 1985-2003
by Graham Brown
Ethnopolitics 8:1 (2009)
This paper utilizes quantitative methods to examine the dynamics of ethnoregional protest in contemporary democratic... more This paper utilizes quantitative methods to examine the dynamics of ethnoregional protest in contemporary democratic states. The paper tests hypotheses relating the incidence of ethnoregional protest to the extent of regional autonomy, spatial disparity and ethnic demography. The findings suggest that relatively wealthy regions and those that are highly ethnically distinct from the rest of the country are more likely to experience ethnic protest, but that the relationship between regional autonomy and protest activity is more complex. Shared-rule features of regional autonomy have a straightforward and substantial dampening effect on the likelihood of ethnic protest, but self-rule features of regional autonomy can be both protest inducing—particularly in contexts of high ethnic distinctiveness and relatively low regional wealth—and protest mitigating, particularly in relatively wealthy regions.
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