A regional labour market model for analyzing the impact of a recession

The effects of the recent economic recession have been widely discussed, particularly at the macro economic level. However, the economic downturn has been pervasive and has also determined a range of economic effects at different territorial levels. It has therefore become necessary to set up appropriate analytical tools aimed at investigating the impact of the economic downturn at the regional level, and to implement adequate policy options to mitigate such negative impacts. We propose a new macro-micro econometric framework which incorporates simultaneously both aggregate labour demand and supply, and the labour market flows determining the steady-state unemployment rate. We can thus simulate demand or supply shocks and therefore assess their impacts on labour demand and supply, and also on unemployment and labour market flows. This enables us to pinpoint the dynamic effects of such shocks and to compare the different behaviours of the regional framework and of the economy as a whole.