Employment disparities in Latvia

Hazans, Mihails (2018): Employment disparities in Latvia. Published in: European Centre of Expertise occasional paper (ad hoc request) : pp. 1-57.

Abstract

In Latvia, three sizeable groups of the working-age population – ethnic minorities, residents of the Latgale region, and the low-educated – feature substantially lower employment rates than those not belonging to these groups. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the corresponding employment disparities over the period of 2007 – 2017. The ethnic employment gaps for both genders are substantial and mostly unexplained by differences between the two groups in other demographic variables. Among citizens of Latvia, the ethnic effect on employment is almost twice as big as the effect of a 10% drop in GDP for females, while for males it is equivalent to the effect of a 4.3% drop in GDP. For males and females alike, the ethnic penalty for non-citizens is even larger and similar in size to the effect of low education (vs. secondary general). For both genders, the labour market penalty for living in Latgale is comparable in size with the effect of a 10% drop in GDP.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: employment, ethnic gap, regional disparities, unemployment
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants ; Non-labor Discrimination; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J64 - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R2 - Household Analysis > R23 - Regional Migration ; Regional Labor Markets ; Population ; Neighborhood Characteristics

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