What are the economic effects of workers moving from one sector to the other on unemployment and income inequality? There is a revival of the discussion on the effects of labour reallocation in advanced economies after the global financial crisis (see for example Bakas et al., 2017 for United States, Basile et al., 2012 for Italy, Bauer and King, 2018 for Germany, and Monteforte, 2019 for Spain) as well as in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic (Bloom et al., 2020; Andrews et al., 2021; Barrero et al., 2021). However, while there are past empirical works for the UK (see for example Mills et al., 1996; Pissarides, 2006; Robson, 2009 among others) the recent evidence, and especially after the financial crisis, Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, is rather weak. This research project aims to examine empirically the contribution of labour reallocation among sectors and regions to unemployment and income inequality in the UK over the recent period at the micro and/or macro level. The empirical analysis on the project will be conducted using regional and sectoral panel data for the UK by employing state-of-the-art panel data regression techniques.
The objectives of this study are a) to provide new empirical evidence about the reallocation of labour and its contribution to changes in the patterns of unemployment and inequality at sectoral, regional and national level in the UK, b) to isolate the regional and sectoral effects of labour reallocation on unemployment rate and income inequality, and c) to present a policy evaluation framework by performing counterfactual exercises which quantify how labour reallocation in the post Covid-19 and Brexit period could affect unemployment and inequality.
Specific qualifications/subject areas required of the applicants for this project: An applicant should normally hold a Master’s degree at distinction or merit level of a UK university or an equivalent qualification. International students will also need to meet the English language requirements - IELTS 6.5 (with minimum sub-scores of 6.0). Applicants who have taken a higher degree at a UK university are normally exempt from the English language requirements.
Application deadline: 15th August for 1st Oct 2022 start date, or 15th Nov for 1st Jan 2023 start date.
Interview details: Interviews will take place between May – Aug for Oct 2022 start date.
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