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Job Search and the Measurement of Unemployment in S outh A frica
Author(s) -
Posel Dorrit,
Casale Daniela,
Vermaak Claire
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
south african journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.502
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1813-6982
pISSN - 0038-2280
DOI - 10.1111/saje.12035
Subject(s) - unemployment , seekers , panel survey , test (biology) , panel data , demographic economics , economics , work (physics) , labour economics , political science , econometrics , engineering , economic growth , mechanical engineering , paleontology , law , biology
Abstract We interrogate the distinction between searching and non‐searching unemployment in S outh A frica using data from the first national panel survey that tracks the individual. In particular, we test whether the non‐searching unemployed display a weaker commitment to the labour market than the searching unemployed, and we investigate what counts as search activity. We find that over the panel, the search status of the unemployed does not predict their subsequent employment status, a result that is robust also for subsamples that vary by age cohort, gender and location. Moreover, social networks are the most important job‐finding strategy of the employed. These findings challenge the exclusion of the non‐searching unemployed from the measure of “genuine” work seekers.