IS STABILITY FOR REGIONAL DISPARITIES OF UNEMPLOYMENT RATES TRULY MYSTERIOUS? AN ANALYSIS FROM STATISTICAL APPROACH

Tsunetada HIROBE

Professor, Department of Economics, Meikai University, 1 Akemi, Urayasu, Chiba 279-8550, Japan

tsune@meikai.ac.jp

Abstract

The paper analyzes the peculiar phenomenon of regional disparities brought by the changes in the geographical distribution of US unemployment rates. Specifically, we investigate the characteristics concerning the gap of that regional distribution especially focusing upon the statistical analysis by mainly an exploratory way. Reduction in disparities or Expansion in disparities usually involves reducing or increasing the overall level of distribution, and the so-called relative disparity between all states of the U.S. shows an extremely stable transition of distribution within a certain range. This is a mysterious phenomenon that is also shown in any other country in the world. One of the reasons that the regional distribution of unemployment rates becomes stable is derived from the robustness of that geographical distribution; this is one of the reasons that the unemployment rate does not fluctuate significantly. Even if that robustness deteriorates for some reason, then the unemployment rate updates the values of minimum and maximum, or only just the range of variation expands; the relative disparities between regions tend to be offset by increases or decreases in the same direction as a result. Since that range is usually very limited, the gap frequently fluctuates up and down within a confined extent and it does not necessarily converge or diverge to a specific point; it would constantly change within the allowable fluctuation range depending on the socio-economic situation.

Keywords: unemployment rate, regional disparity, convergence, equilibrium, stability

JEL classification: C13, C15, J69, R12, R19

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THE CHAOTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE GROWTH MODEL: EURO AREA

Vesna D. JABLANOVIC

Professor of Economics, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, Nemanjina 6 , 11081  Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

vesnajab@ptt.rs

Abstract

The unemployment rate in the Euro Area fall to 10.026 per cent in 2016. Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Germany and Malta. On the other hand, the highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece and Spain. Unemployment rates have fallen from their postcrisis peaks, but remain high.  The basic aims of this paper  are: firstly,  to provide a relatively simple chaotic unemployment rate growth model that is capable of generating stable equilibria, cycles, or chaos, and secondly, to to analyze the unemployment rate growth stability in the period 1991-2015 in the Euro Area.. This paper confirms stable growth of the unemployment rate in the Euro Area in the observed period.

Keywords: Unemployment rate, Economic Growth, Euro Area

JEL classification: J64, 040, 052

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