PERSISTENCE AND TURNOVER IN REGIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT DISPARITIES

This study investigates persistence and turnover in regional unemploym ent disparities in Finland by examining time-series data on 10 labour districts and 423 municipalities. The data on the labour districts ind icates that regional unemployment disparities are rather persistent an d that steady-state unemployment rates differ considerably across the districts. The results on the municipality level data, however, sugges t the presence of substantial intra-distribution dynamics and that the degree of persistence is less profound than the labour district data indicates. In all, the results are more in line with the disequilibriu m than the equilibrium view of the causes of regional unemployment dif ferences.