Abstract:

In particular, the prevalence of large regional disparities in unemployment rates stems from longstanding regional development disparities within a country. Turkey struggles against two major regional economic problems: regional development disparities, which is a major issue, and regional inequalities in unemployment. In Turkey, regional development differences and regional disparities in unemployment rates are fairly large and persistent. By using a spatial panel data technique, this paper analyzes the determinants of Turkish regional unemployment disparities for the period from 2008 to 2012 and whether the spatial interaction exists among Turkish regions. The findings show that a significant relationship is found among the regional unemployment rate and male labor force participation rate, the share of young population, and the share of agriculture in employment and educational attainment. In addition, a positive spatial correlation is found among the regional distribution of unemployment rates.

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