@techreport{Alho2001Catching,
abstract = {Europe's catching up of the US in per capita income levels has, with some exceptions, come to a halt and turned into a decline during the 1980s and 1990s with a simultaneous secular worsening in the EU unemployment situation. The aim of the paper is to present a systematic description of the role of unemployment in the convergence process, which is an issue ignored in the growth literature. In this effort a simple disaggregation is utilised, which decomposes the disparity in the level of income per capita, or its change over time, into four components: productivity, unemployment, participation rate and age structure. The EU countries show marked internal differences with respect to these factors. Secondly, we assess the role of unemployment in the convergence process by estimating the importance of the effect of the initial unemployment and the change in unemployment with respect to convergence of the EU to the US. We find that the former effect is not significant while over time there is a crowding in type of phenomenon, where a reduction in unemployment accelerates convergence more than with its direct impact. \textendash{} Convergence ; unemployment ; EU --  -- USA:n kiinniotto per capita tulotasoissa on er\"{a}in poikkeuksin pys\"{a}htynyt ja k\"{a}\"{a}ntynyt taantumiseksi Euroopassa 1980- ja 1990-lukujen aikana samalla, kun EU:n  ty\"{o}tt\"{o}myystilanne on heikentynyt pysyv\"{a}isluonteisesti. T\"{a}m\"{a}n paperin tarkoitus kuvata systemaattisesti ty\"{o}tt\"{o}myyden roolia konvergenssiprosessissa, mik\"{a} on ohitettu kysymys kasvukirjallisuudessa. T\"{a}m\"{a}n vuoksi laaditaan yksinkertainen hajote, jossa tulotasoissa vallitseva poikkeama tai sen muutos yli ajan hajotetaan nelj\"{a}\"{a}n komponenttiin: tuottavuuteen, ty\"{o}tt\"{o}myyteen, osallistumisasteeseen ja ik\"{a}rakenteeseen. EU-maat poikkeavat merkitt\"{a}v\"{a}sti n\"{a}iden komponenttien suhteen. Toiseksi arvioimme ty\"{o}tt\"{o}myyden roolia konvergenssiprosessille estimoimalla alkuhetken ty\"{o}tt\"{o}myysasteen ja sen muutoksen vaikutuksen konvergenssille. Tulosten mukaan edellinen vaikutus ei ole tilastollisesti merkitsev\"{a}, kun taas yli ajan vallitsee tilanne, jossa ty\"{o}tt\"{o}myysasteen aleneminen saa aikaan konvergenssi\"{a} enemm\"{a}n kuin mik\"{a} on sen suora vaikutus. \textendash{} Konvergenssi ; ty\"{o}tt\"{o}myys ; EU},
address = {Helsinki},
author = {Kari E. O. Alho},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {F43; O49; 330; Arbeitslosigkeit; Entwicklungskonvergenz; EU-Staaten; USA},
language = {eng},
number = {762},
publisher = {The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA)},
title = {Catching up and unemployment in the EU},
type = {ETLA Discussion Papers, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA)},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/63976},
year = {2001}
}
