The impact of social and economic factors on unemployment in the Košice region from 1993 to the present

Abstract

A problem in the Slovak labour market is a long-term high imbalance of labour supply and the demand for labour. Since 1990, a high level of unemployment has persisted which is aggravated by a high rate of long-term unemployment. From a regional perspective, unemployment is concentrated in eastern and south central Slovakia. These regions in Slovakia are handicapped by their low-quality infrastructure as well as low economic potential and an unfavourable demographic mix. The aim of this study is to present the development of unemployment in the Košice region from the establishment of an independent Slovak state to the present day.

The transformation of the industrial structure (concerning mainly sectors and ownership) after the change of the political system resulted in high unemployment – which is particularly true for the Košice region. Besides secondary analyses, the empirical part of the paper deals with the evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of specific measures each Slovak government took to develop regional labour markets. Our study findings were as follows: The unfavourable position of the Košice region in the Slovak labour market is a by-product of bad governmental decisions and of the Slovak transition to a market economy. The rising unemployment in the Košice region is a serious economic problem which can be mitigated by various economic and social policies described in the conclusions.