Paper Status Tracking

Journals by Title

Journals by Subject

Contact us

	[email protected]
	3275638434

	Paper Publishing WeChat

Useful Links

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Article

Open Access

Micro Econometric Analysis of Determinants of Occupational Choice in Algeria

Author(s)

Moundir Lassassi, Nacer-eddine Hammouda

Full-Text PDF Download XML 496 Views

DOI:10.17265/1537-1514/2014.11.001

Affiliation(s)

Moundir Lassassi, statistician-economist, Research Centre in Applied Economic for Development (CREAD), Algiers, Algeria.
Nacer-eddineHammouda, senior researcher, Statistician-Economist, Research Centre in Applied Economic for Development (CREAD), Algiers, Algeria.

ABSTRACT

A review of the literature on the issue of labor market participation and occupational choice allows to see that researches on this one turned more on developed countries. In underdeveloped countries, including Algeria, the determinants of participation in economic activity and individuals’ occupational choice remain understood, despite their economic and social importance, since the degree of economic vulnerability and social development is strongly correlated with the occupied job. This work is not concerned with income from the labor market but rather the process that takes place upstream, that is to say, the integration into the labor market. This paper will study the labor market functioning by analyzing the supply and demand of labor. So the first step is to analyze the participation determinants in economic activity and in a second stage to determine the role of individual characteristics, in particular human capital for the tenure choice. The aim of this work is to answer the following questions: (1) What are the factors that influence individual’s participation in the labor market? Is there a difference between men and women? (2) What are the occupational choice determinants of an individual on the labor market? Is this the same factors for men and women? (3) What are the causes of failure in the labor market? To answer all the concerns, authors have exploited the employment surveys conducted by the National Office of Statistics (NOS) from Algerian households (employment surveys 1997 and 2007). For processing and data analysis, authors applied several econometric techniques: models of discrete choice (binary logistic regression) and segmentation techniques. Four major findings emerged from this study: First, authors note that women’s participation in economic activity is following logic quite different from that of men. For women, the education and training determine the participation in the labor market. For men, it is rather the age that determines participation. The second result concerns the effect of the sex variable; the latter has very important effect on the first phase of participation in economic activity. In the second phase (being busy), the effect of this variable is less important. The third result indicates the human capital importance in the positioning in the various segments of the labor market and improving the job situation. The fourth result is dysfunction in the labor market due to the mismatch between characterized supply by a population increasingly educated and labor demand characterized by job creation increasingly unqualified.

KEYWORDS

human capital, labor market, occupational choice, discrete choice model, Algeria

Cite this paper

References

Arrow, K. J. (1973). Higher education as filter. Journal of public economics, 2, 192-216.

Becker, G. (1993). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of ChicagoPress.

Brilleau, A., Roubaud, F., & Torelli, C. (2004). L’emploi, le chômage et les conditions d’activité dans les principales agglomérations de sept Etats membres de l’UEMOA (Document de travail DIAL. DT 2004-06).

Chevalier, A., & Viitanen, T. K. (2001). The long run consequences of teenage motherhood in Britain (Version 51, London School of Economics Working Papers, Hougton, Warwick University).

Desai, S., & Waite, L. (1991). Women’s employment during pregnancy and after the first birth: Occupational characteristics and work commitment. American Sociological Review, 56(4), 551-566.

Eicher, J. C. (1979). Economics of education. Paris: Economica.

Kouamé, A. (1999). Education et Emploi des femmes à Abidjan: Chapitre1—Collection Sociétés Africaines et Diaspora- L’Harmattan (Education and employment of women in Abidjan, Chapter 1—Collection African Societies and Diaspora).

Kuépié, M., Nordman, C. J., & Roubaud, F. (2006). Education and labour market outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (Document de Travail DIAL, DT 2006-16).

Lachaud, J. P. (1998). Modélisation des déterminants de la pauvreté et marché du travail en Afrique: le cas du Burkina Faso (Modeling of the determinants of poverty and the labor market in Africa: the case of Burkina Faso, Working Paper No. 32, Development Economics Centre, University Montesquieu Bordeaux IV).

Lazear, E. P. (1981). Agency, earning profiles, productivity and hours restriction. American Economic Review, 71(4), 606-620.

Mincer, J. (1974). Schooling, experience and earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

National Statistics Office. (2007). Statistical collections, social statistics, labor force survey 2007 (No. 139, December 2007, Algeria). Retrieved from http://www.ons.dz/-Emploi-et-chomage-.html

National Statistics Office. (2013). Statistical collections, social statistics, labor force survey 2013 (No. 653, December 2013, Algeria). Retrieved from http://www.ons.dz/-Emploi-et-chomage-.html

Newel, M., & Joshi, H. (1986). The next job after the first baby occupational transition among women born in 1946 (Centre for Population Studies, Working paper, 86-3).

Perry, S. (1988). Downward occupational mobility and part-time women workers. Applied Economics, 20(1), 485-495.

Psacharopoulos, G., & Patrinos, H. A. (2004). Returns to investment in education: A further update. Education Economics, 12(2), 111-134.

Rönsen, M., & Sunström, M. (1996). Maternal Employment in Scandinavia: A comparison of the after-birth employment active of Norwegian and Swedish Women. Journal of Population Economics, 9, 267-285.

Schultz, T. P. (2004). Evidence of returns to schooling in Africa from household surveys: Monitoring and restructuring the market for education. Journal of African Economies, 13, 95-148.

Smith-Lovin, L., & Tickamyer, A. K. (1978). Nonrecursive models of labour force participation, fertility behaviour and sex role attitudes. American Sociological Review, 43(4), 541-557.

Spence, M. (1973). Job market signalling. Quarterly journal of economics, 87, 355-375.

Spence, M. (1974). Market signalling: Informational transfer in hiring and related processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Tremblay, D. G. (1997). Labour economics; realities and theoretical approaches. Montreal: Editions St Martin.

Vernières, M. (1997). L’insertion professionnelle: analyse et débats (The professional integration, analysis and debates, France, Editions Economica).

Vincens, J. (1998). L’insertion professionnelle des jeunes, quelques réflexions théoriques (The professional integration of young people, some theoretical reflections, Training Employment, No. 61, Centre for Studies and Research on Qualifications (CEREQ), pp. 59-72).

Waite, L. J., & Stolzenberg, R. M. (1976). Intended childbearing and labor force participation of young women: Insights from nonrecursive models. American Sociological Review, 41, 235-251.

Wetzels, C. (1999). Squeezing birth into working life: Household panel data analysis comparing Germany, Great Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands (Tinbergen Institute Research Series, Universiteit van Amsterdam).