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Unemployment Hysteresis and Structural Change in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Kurmaş Akdoğan

    (Central Bank of Turkey)

Abstract
We examine the unemployment hysteresis hypothesis for 31 European countries, US and Japan, using linear and nonlinear unit root tests. Two types of smooth transition models - Exponential Smooth Transition Autoregressive (ESTAR) and Asymmetric Exponential Smooth Transition Autoregressive (AESTAR) - are employed to account for the mean-reverting behaviour in unemployment due to heterogeneity in hiring and firing costs across firms. Four main results emerge: First, the hysteresis hypothesis is rejected for 60 percent of the countries in our sample. Second, nonlinear models capture the asymmetries in unemployment dynamics over the business cycle for some countries. Third, many of the series display multiple structural breaks which might point out shifts in mean level of unemployment. Fourth, forecasting powers of our nonlinear models are moderately better than the random walk model in the longer term. The results have policy implications for the debate on the benefits of demand or supply side policies for tackling the current unemployment problem in Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurmaş Akdoğan, 2015. "Unemployment Hysteresis and Structural Change in Europe," EY International Congress on Economics II (EYC2015), November 5-6, 2015, Ankara, Turkey 266, Ekonomik Yaklasim Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:eyd:cp2015:266
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; Hysteresis; Nonlinear Adjustment; Structural Breaks; Forecasting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications

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