Regional Unemployment in Poland: Rural-Urban Contrasts

Hilary Ingham (1) , Mike Ingham (2) , Jan Herbst (3)

1 Economics
2 Ansdell Consulting
3 KLON/JAWOR

Unemployment continues to bedevil Poland, albeit with striking sub-national differences, which this paper seeks to explain using random effects error component two-stage estimation for the country's NUTS 4 level powiats. Given the economy's peculiar configuration under communism, with its large private agricultural sector, emphasis is placed on rural-urban differences. While less densely populated areas do suffer higher unemployment rates, the effect is moderated by hidden unemployment in farming. On the other hand, powiats that housed the ex-state farms suffer a negative long-term legacy. Other notable results include an evident positive impact of foreign capital on local labour market fortunes.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Hilary Ingham, Mike Ingham, Jan Herbst. Regional Unemployment in Poland: Rural-Urban Contrasts. Applied Economics, 2009, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/00036840802600293⟩. ⟨hal-00582267⟩