Examining the Shifting Dynamics of the Beveridge Curve in the Turkish Labor Market during Crises

Abstract

Following the global financial crisis, an increasing amount of attention has been directed towards examining the Beveridge curve (BC), which indicates the relationship between unemployment and vacancy rates. This research analyzes the unemployment–vacancy rate dynamics in the Turkiye labor market during both the global financial crisis and COVID-19 periods. The findings from this study demonstrate that the labor market exhibits deteriorating efficiency, as evidenced by movement of BC away from the origin. The unemployment and vacancy rates both increase over time, with a leftward (rightward) shift of BC during the global financial crisis (COVID-19) period. The study also reveals that both crises had no significant effect on unemployment–vacancy rate dynamics. In the Turkish labor market, there exists a situation where the vacancy rate is in shortfall of the unemployment level in Turkiye. This creates a positive relationship between these two factors. The labor market in Turkiye experiences inefficiencies as it struggles to generate a sufficient number of jobs to meet the demand from job seekers.