The heterogeneity of Okun's law: A metaregression analysis

Okun's law, a significant parameter in empirical research and policy analysis, faces considerable heterogeneity. This stems from its dual interpretation in the literature, with one implying unemployment's effects on output and the other suggesting output's effects on unemployment. Con...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Porras, Sylvina, Martín-Román, Ángel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:Uruguay
Institución:Universidad de la República
Repositorio:COLIBRI
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:colibri.udelar.edu.uy:20.500.12008/51050
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/51050
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106490
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Okun's law
Metaregression
Heterogeneity
EMPLEO
Descripción
Sumario:Okun's law, a significant parameter in empirical research and policy analysis, faces considerable heterogeneity. This stems from its dual interpretation in the literature, with one implying unemployment's effects on output and the other suggesting output's effects on unemployment. Consequently, comparing results from these approaches is not straightforward. Even within each approach, variability persists. Through meta-analysis and correction for publication bias, we identified the primary factor contributing to heterogeneity in both approaches: labor market characteristics (e.g., self-employment, labor laws, productive structure), leading to varying reactions of unemployment to cyclical output changes across different labor markets. The second most influential factor was methodological issues (data type, frequency, spatial coverage, sample period, etc.), highlighting how researchers' decisions impact results. Lastly, the underlying theoretical model also accounted for some variability. Okun proposed three models to estimate the relationship, which yielded comparable results for the US economy, but for other economies this was less evident.