Is Deindustrialization Causing High Unemployment in Affluent Countries? Evidence from 16 OECD Countries, 1970-2003

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Is Deindustrialization Causing High Unemployment in Affluent Countries? Evidence from 16 OECD Countries, 1970-2003
Language: English
Authors: Kollmeyer, Christopher, Pichler, Florian
Source: Social Forces. Mar 2013 91(3):785-812.
Availability: Oxford University Press. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, UK. Tel: +44-1865-353907; Fax: +44-1865-353485; e-mail: jnls.cust.serv@oxfordjournals.org; Web site: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/sf
Peer Reviewed: Y
Physical Description: PDF
Page Count: 28
Publication Date: 2013
Document Type: Information Analyses
Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Social Change, Foreign Countries, Manufacturing, Unemployment, Regression (Statistics), Models, Correlation, Developed Nations
DOI: 10.1093/sf/sos184
ISSN: 0037-7732
Abstract: This study assesses the possibility that deindustrialization has been contributing to the persistently high unemployment rates experienced by most affluent countries since the mid-1970s. Combining insights from Lilien's (1982) "sectoral shift" thesis and the literature on deindustrialization, the authors assert that the decades-long contraction of the manufacturing sector has been a significant source of high unemployment in affluent countries. This assertion is tested against the literature's existing explanations for unemployment using data from 16 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries over a recent 34-year period. Two-way, fixed-effects regression models suggest that deindustrialization has not only contributed to unemployment in these countries, but that it has been one of the more important causes of this phenomenon. These findings are robust across various model specifications and estimating strategies. The study concludes by suggesting further ways to investigate this important topic.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2013
Accession Number: EJ999653
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This study assesses the possibility that deindustrialization has been contributing to the persistently high unemployment rates experienced by most affluent countries since the mid-1970s. Combining insights from Lilien's (1982) "sectoral shift" thesis and the literature on deindustrialization, the authors assert that the decades-long contraction of the manufacturing sector has been a significant source of high unemployment in affluent countries. This assertion is tested against the literature's existing explanations for unemployment using data from 16 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries over a recent 34-year period. Two-way, fixed-effects regression models suggest that deindustrialization has not only contributed to unemployment in these countries, but that it has been one of the more important causes of this phenomenon. These findings are robust across various model specifications and estimating strategies. The study concludes by suggesting further ways to investigate this important topic.
ISSN:0037-7732
DOI:10.1093/sf/sos184