Table 2: Labour market conditions in rural regions in 2001 - 2003 (weighted averages)
|
2001 |
2002 |
2003 | |
|
Unemployment rate | |||
|
German County Association |
8.98 [6.48; 11.49] |
9.31 [6.88; 11.75] |
10.09 [7.55; 12.63] |
|
Other rural regions |
8.70 [8.11; 9.39] |
9.07 [8.49; 9.65] |
9.71 [9.13; 10.30] |
|
Long-term unemployment rate | |||
|
German County Association |
3.05 [2.10; 4.01] |
3.05 [2.03; 4.06] |
3.44 [2.26; 4.63] |
|
Other rural regions |
2.93 [2.70; 3.16] |
2.96 [2.71; 3.22] |
3.29 [3.00; 3.58] |
|
Unemployment assistance recipient ratea German County Association 2.60 [1.49; 3.72] |
2.98 [1.72; 4.24] |
3.56 [2.10; 5.02] | |
|
Other rural regions |
2.52 [2.25; 2.79] |
2.90 [2.60; 3.21] |
3.46 [3.12; 3.81] |
|
Social assistance recipient ratea | |||
|
German County Association |
3.46 [2.87; 4.06] |
3.73 [3.10; 4.37] |
3.78 [3.14; 4.42] |
|
Other rural regions |
3.66 [3.48; 3.83] |
3.78 [3.60; 3.96] |
3.91 [3.72; 4.10] |
a) In percent of working age population (18 to 64 year olds).
Confidence intervals with * and ** indicate significance at a 5 % and 1 % level, respectively.
Source: Own calculations based on data from the Federal Employment Office.
The German County Association indicator variable would not be a valid instrument to
control for positive self-selection if the mayors on the board of the German County
Association or the mayors that were federal state presidents of the German County
Association were elected based on their labour market performance. The board of the
German County Association is elected every two years and the federal state presidents of the
German County Association every two to three years7. Using data for the years 2001 until
2003 we can investigate whether labour market variables are positively correlated with being
a board member or a federal state president of the German County Association. Since only
rural regions are members of the German County Association the sample for the descriptive
statistics in Table 2 is restricted to rural regions only. The fact that the weighted averages are
not statistically significant suggests that rural regions with a mayor that is a board member or
a federal state president of the German County Association have similar unemployment
rates, similar long-term unemployment rates and similar unemployment assistance and social
assistance recipient rates compared to other rural regions. This suggests that regions with a
7 See Paragraph 7 of the articles of the German County Association, i.e. http://www.kreise.de/landkreistag/dlt-
satzung-2005.pdf, and the articles of the State Associations of German Counties.
12