Özet:

The fact that production can operate at full employment capacity and the country's ability to use its resources with full efficiency are among the most important macroeconomic indicators. The full employment level, especially in developing countries, shows no idle resources. For developed countries, keeping unemployment at a natural level is important in terms of ensuring sustainable economic growth. The concept of convergence attracts researchers' attention as a concept frequently used in different fields in the economics literature. The frequently discussed income convergence; is defined as the potential of developing countries to have higher growth rates than developed countries and reach the income levels of developed countries after a while. In the study, a panel data set covering the unemployment rates of the G-20 member countries between the years 1991-2022 was used. Bahmani-Oskooee et al. (2014) Fourier panel unit root test was applied to determine the unemployment convergence of G-20 countries. The unit root test used is a current and powerful method in that it allows both cross-sectional dependence and structural breaks. According to the test results, the heterogeneous alternative hypothesis, which states that some of the G-20 countries show convergence behavior, could not be rejected. In addition, according to the results of the F test, which tests the significance of smooth transitions, the Fourier terms of all countries except China, South Korea, and Argentina were found to be significant. According to the results of the study, it was determined that the unemployment rates of Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa showed convergence behavior compared to the G-20 average.

Anahtar Kelimeler: