Volume 13 - Article 7 | Pages 163–188  

Decomposing the change in labour force indicators over time

By Alexia Prskawetz, Barbara Zagaglia, Thomas Fent, Vegard Skirbekk

Abstract

In this paper we study changes in the size and the composition of the labour force in five OECD countries from 1983 through 2000. We apply a recent decomposition method to quantify the components of the change over time in the crude labour force rate and the mean age of the labour force. Our results show that the change in the crude labour force rate was dominated by the change in age-specific labour force participation rates. For the mean age of the labour force we find that for males the change in the age composition of the population predominately explains the overall change while the results for females are less clear-cut.

Author’s Affiliation

• Alexia Prskawetz - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Austria EMAIL
• Barbara Zagaglia - Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy EMAIL
• Thomas Fent - Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Austria EMAIL
• Vegard Skirbekk - Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Norway EMAIL

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