Occupations under fire: the labour market in a complex emergency

Jennifer Alix-Garcia and Anne Bartlett

Oxford Economic Papers, 2015, vol. 67, issue 3, 687-714

Abstract: This article examines the impact of conflict-induced population displacement on urban labour markets. Data from over 900 working-age individuals in Sudan indicates that long-term urban residents in conflict areas have a higher probability of being employed in skilled sectors relative to similar individuals in a non-conflict city and a lower likelihood of becoming unemployed. Recent arrivals to the conflict city, however, are much more likely to become unemployed. The data also show that young women entering the labour market during the conflict are less likely to be unemployed in the conflict city. This is consistent with a framework where war-induced population displacement from rural to urban areas generates demand for services provided by higher-skill workers and increased competition for low-skill jobs. The data show that household wealth of long-term residents decreases in conflict zones. Negative wealth effects are smaller for those more dependent on skilled sectors.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gpv006 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:67:y:2015:i:3:p:687-714.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Oxford Economic Papers is currently edited by James Forder and Francis J. Teal

More articles in Oxford Economic Papers from Oxford University Press Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().