Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean

Laurence Ball, Nicolás de Roux and Marc Hofstetter

No 17274, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This study constructs a new data set on unemployment rates in Latin America and the Caribbean and then explores the determinants of unemployment. We compare different countries, finding that unemployment is influenced by the size of the rural population and that the effects of government regulations are generally weak. We also examine large, persistent increases in unemployment over time, finding that they are caused by contractions in aggregate demand. These demand contractions result from either disinflationary monetary policy or the defense of an exchange-rate peg in the face of capital flight. Our evidence supports hysteresis theories in which short-run changes in unemployment influence the natural rate.

JEL-codes: E24 E52 F41 J60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

Published as Laurence Ball & Nicolás Roux & Marc Hofstetter, 2013. "Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 397-424, July.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean (2013)
Working Paper: Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean (2011)
Working Paper: Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean (2011)
Working Paper: Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean (2011)
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