Unemployment Outfl ows of Foreigners and Spaniards. Effects of the Economic Context

Abstract

This paper examines the employment transitions of unemployed
individuals who have worked before. To do so, a longitudinal data set
from the Spanish Labour Force Survey (Encuesta de Población Activa,
EPA) was used. The analyses were conducted for two different
economic periods: expansive (2005-2007) and recessive (2008-2010).
The results indicate that Latin Americans and Eastern Europeans had a
higher probability of obtaining employment in Spain during the period of
economic growth. This was the case after controlling for sociodemographic
variables, as well as factors related to the characteristics
of the last job before becoming unemployed. This advantage, however,
disappears during the recession period. Moreover, the effect of some
factors that infl uence the likelihood of being employed again, such as
human capital, change depending on the phase of the economic cycle.