Computational Approach to Labour Market Segmentation

This research proposal investigates methodological approaches to research of labour market segmentation and mobility. In recent decades, some of the radical changes on European labour markets have resulted in growing social divides and soaring inequality between its segments. While traditional theories (Doeringer & Piore, 1973; Lindbeck & Snower, 1988) on segmentation consider the labour market to be divided into two groups—either as internal-external or insiders-outsiders, more recent studies (Yoon & Chung, 2016; Rubery et al., 2009; Grimshaw et al., 2005) highlight more fragmented configurations. Embedding the labour market segmentation debate into a cross-cultural comparative framework by the use of multi-group latent class analysis, this research investigates the (in)stability of labour market segments in time and their comparability between European countries. These methodological advancements make it possible, to further investigate a substantial challenge in the labour market segmentation literature: the question of mobility between labour market segments. Majority of the literature (e.g. Lindbeck & Snower, 1988; Atkinson, 1988; Emmenegger et al., 2012) assumes limited mobility between segments, but the extent of segment mobility has hardly been thoroughly investigated. As a result, we challenge the paradigm of limited mobility between labour market segments as an empirical question. By utilizing findings from the first part on labour market segmentation, mobility is investigated as a transition between latent segments, and thus quantified in a way that has not been used to date. A comparative study between the UK and Germany elaborates on which social groups are mostly prone to remain in their respective labour market segments and which have the highest possibility to experience a transition. This research project aims to bring twofold contribution: first, by using state-of-the-art methodology, it brings novel findings about labour market segments in Europe and introduces a novel way of analysing segmentation. Second, it investigates the empirically underexplored topic of segment mobility. Both of these contributions could potentially widen the current knowledge on labour market segmentation in Europe and inform European-wide policy proposals.

Jaar van publicatie:2021

Toegankelijkheid:Open