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Unemployment and the earnings structure in Latvia

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  • Hazans, Mihails

Abstract

Latvia has recorded sustained GDP and productivity growth since 1997. Yet unemployment rates, despite gradual decrease, have remained high. The paper explores the mysteries of unemployment in Latvia. It analyzes labor flows between employment, unemployment, and nonparticipation and finds the following results: The type of education and the region of residence appear to be the most important determinants of success in finding jobs by the unemployed. The unemployed from ethnic minorities have lower chances to find a job within a year, other things equal, while the difference between genders is not significant. However, neither ethnicity nor gender seems to matter as far as the transition from employment to unemployment is concerned. Regional disparities in job destruction seem to be less sizable than disparities in job creation. The analysis of job search methods by the unemployed indicates that two target groups of state employment policy (young unemployed and long-term unemployed) appear to make relatively little use of the public employment service. The author also looks at the impact of education, age, gender, ethnicity, and regional factors on individual earnings. The relative position of youth and women in Latvian labor market, compared with prime age men, is less unfavorable than in many other countries. Yet the gender wage gap has increased recently, and the same is true for regional disparities. Beneficiaries of the so-called new education system have a relatively high market value, especially with graduates from universities and general secondary schools. Finally, returns to experience seem to be nonexistent for many adult workers without higher education.

Suggested Citation

  • Hazans, Mihails, 2005. "Unemployment and the earnings structure in Latvia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3504, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3504
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mihails Hazans, 2004. "Does Commuting Reduce Wage Disparities?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 360-390, September.
    2. Mihails Hazans, 2003. "Potential emigration of Latvian labour force after joining the EU and its impact on Latvian labour market," SSE Riga/BICEPS Research Papers 2003-2, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS);Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga).
    3. Newell, Andrew & Reilly, Barry, 2001. "The gender pay gap in the transition from communism: some empirical evidence," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 287-304, December.
    4. Stepan Jurajda, 2000. "Gender Wage Gap and Segregation in Late Transition," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 306, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    5. Newell, Andrew T., 2001. "The Distribution of Wages in Transition Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 267, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Hellerstein, Judith K & Neumark, David & Troske, Kenneth R, 1999. "Wages, Productivity, and Worker Characteristics: Evidence from Plant-Level Production Functions and Wage Equations," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(3), pages 409-446, July.
    7. Barrett, Alan & FitzGerald, John & Nolan, Brian, 2002. "Earnings inequality, returns to education and immigration into Ireland," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 665-680, November.
    8. Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Ransom, Michael R., 1994. "On discrimination and the decomposition of wage differentials," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 5-21, March.
    9. Hazans, Mihails, 2003. "Determinants of inter-regional migration in the Baltic countries," ZEI Working Papers B 17-2003, University of Bonn, ZEI - Center for European Integration Studies.
    10. Kunze, Astrid, 2000. "The Determination of Wages and the Gender Wage Gap: A Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 193, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Hazans, Mihails, 2003. "Commuting in the Baltic States: Patterns, determinants and gains," ZEI Working Papers B 02-2003, University of Bonn, ZEI - Center for European Integration Studies.
    12. Jelena Popova & Olga Rastrigina & Ija Trapeznikova, 2003. "Part-time Employment and Underemployment in the Latvian Labour Market," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 3(2), pages 42-58, July.
    13. Mihails Hazans, 2003. "Returns to Education in the Baltic Countries," SSE Riga/BICEPS Research Papers 2003-1, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS);Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga).
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    Cited by:

    1. Mihails Hazans, 2007. "Looking for the workforce: the elderly, discouraged workers, minorities, and students in the Baltic labour markets," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 319-349, September.
    2. Jekaterina Dmitrijeva & Mihails Hazans, 2007. "A Stock–Flow Matching Approach to Evaluation of Public Training Programme in a High Unemployment Environment," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(3), pages 503-540, September.
    3. Karlis Vilerts & Olegs Krasnopjorovs & Edgars Brekis, 2015. "Does Education Affect Wages During and After Economic Crisis? Evidence from Latvia (2006–2012)," Working Papers 2015/03, Latvijas Banka.
    4. Sonu Madan, 2019. "Wage Differentials Among Workers: An Empirical Analysis of the Manufacturing and Service Sectors," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(4), pages 731-747, December.
    5. Mihails Hazans, 2011. "Labor Market Integration of Ethnic Minorities in Latvia," Chapters, in: Martin Kahanec & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), Ethnic Diversity in European Labor Markets, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Mihails Hazans, 2005. "Latvia: Working Too Hard?," Labor and Demography 0506008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Mondschean, Thomas & Oppenheimer, Margaret, 2011. "Regional Long-term and Short-term Unemployment and Education in Transition: The Case of Poland," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 23-48.
    8. Józef Dziechciarz, 2015. "Measurement of Rate of Return in Education. Research Directions," Proceedings of FIKUSZ 2015, in: Jolán Velencei (ed.),Proceedings of FIKUSZ '15, pages 39-56, Óbuda University, Keleti Faculty of Business and Management.
    9. Krasnopjorovs, Olegs, 2012. "Measuring the sources of economic growth in the EU with parametric and non-parametric methods," MPRA Paper 47583, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Krasnopjorovs, Olegs, 2013. "Latvijas ekonomikas izaugsmi noteicošie faktori [Factors of Economic Growth in Latvia]," MPRA Paper 47550, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Ieva Brauksa & Ludmila Fadejeva, 2013. "Internal Labour Market Mobility in 2005-2011: The Case of Latvia," Working Papers 2013/02, Latvijas Banka.
    12. Mihails Hazans & Ija Trapeznikova & Olga Rastrigina, 2008. "Ethnic and parental effects on schooling outcomes before and during the transition: evidence from the Baltic countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 21(3), pages 719-749, July.
    13. Jekaterina Dmitrijeva, 2008. "Matching and Labour Market Efficiency across Space and through EU accession: Evidence from Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia," Documents de recherche 08-05, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    14. Artjoms Ivlevs, 2013. "Minorities on the move? Assessing post-enlargement emigration intentions of Latvia’s Russian speaking minority," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 51(1), pages 33-52, August.
    15. Ludmila Fadejeva & Ieva Opmane, 2016. "Internal labour market mobility in 2005–2014 in Latvia: the micro data approach," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 16(2), pages 152-174.
    16. Kenneth Smith, 2011. "Labor force participation in the Soviet and post-Soviet Baltic States," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 335-355, November.
    17. Jaan Masso & K. Espenberg & Anu Masso & I. Mierina & Kaia Philips, 2013. "GINI Country Report: Growing Inequalities and their Impacts in the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania," GINI Country Reports baltics, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.

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