Determinants of youth unemployment in Russian regions

Abstract

In spite of a growing body of literature investigating the determinants of youth unemployment, studies at sub-national level are still scarce, especially for Russian regions. This article is an innovative attempt to analyse econometrically the key factors affecting the youth unemployment rate and the ratio between youth and total unemployment rates for 75 Russian regions in 2000–09. The existing literature on regional labour market performance and dynamics suggested the use of a large set of explanatory variables (with indicators of the level of economic development, the demographic situation and migration processes, and the export–import levels) in a GMM panel data analysis, taking into account both spatial correlation and endogeneity problems. Although we were searching for structural determinants, we also investigated the effect of the 2008–09 financial crisis. The econometric results, presented and discussed using several models, have key policy implications for both national and regional levels of government.