Persistence and regional disparities in unemployment (Argentina 1980-1997)

We study the regional evolution of unemployment in Argentina for the period 1980-1997. First, we show that the Argentine regional unemployment structure is not very persistent. We find less persistence in Argentina than in the US. Second, we model the conditional means of regional unemployment and measure the persistence of unemployment to shocks based on our conditional model. We find a low degree of unemployment persistence to shocks. Finally, we identify regional factors that explain regional unemployment differences and whose changes account for the low persistence of the regional unemployment structure.