How important is access to employment offices in Spain? An urban and non-urban perspective

  1. Suárez Cano, Patricia 1
  2. Mayor Fernández, Matías 1
  3. Cueto Iglesias, Begoña 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Oviedo
    info

    Universidad de Oviedo

    Oviedo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/006gksa02

Journal:
Investigaciones Regionales = Journal of Regional Research

ISSN: 1695-7253,  2340-2717

Year of publication: 2011

Issue Title: Contributions to spatial econometrics

Issue: 21

Pages: 119-140

Type: Article

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More publications in: Investigaciones Regionales = Journal of Regional Research

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of the accessibility to employment offices on local unemployment rates according to the distribution of three different types of municipalities: large urban, small urban and non-urban. We built a new accessibility measure taking into account the number of employment offices together with the distance and size of their catchment area. We propose an empirical model with spatial regimes that allows including simultaneously spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation. The results suggest that the accessibility to employment offices is especially important in non-urban areas where employment opportunities are limited. Employment services are important because bridge the gap between unemployed workers and employers where job opportunities are unclear.

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