The multivariate techniques in evaluation of unemployment analysis of Polish regions

Abstract

Research background: The labour market situation is considered to be the most widely discussed part of economic development. However, it should be noted that the unemployment situation of young people (aged 15–24 years) in Poland in general terms seems to be problematic. Overall, the unemployment rate among young people in Poland is significantly higher than the overall unemployment rate in the EU.  Moreover, the situation varies greatly across the regions. Purpose of the article: Using multivariate techniques as a theoretical framework, the main goal of the paper is to identify groups of Polish regions that share similar patterns regarding unemployment among young people. To reach this goal, first a set of labour market indicators were selected. Next, the authors compared the labour market situation of young people between the Polish regions in 2005 and in 2014. Finally, the conclusions regarding the conducted analysis are explored. Methods: The initial calculation is based on the concept of the taxonomic measure developed by Hellwig. The final method used to create clusters of objects (across 16 voivodeships of Poland) is cluster analysis. A segmentation of the voivodeships is observed for the years 2005 and 2014, based on selected indicators to determine the labour market situation. The data was gathered from the databases of the Central Statistical Office of Poland and Eurostat. Findings & Value added: Through the exploration of the advantages of multivariate methods, the nature of youth unemployment is revealed in more detail. Indeed, dendrogram analysis divided the voivodeships into five groups, which are characterized by similar features associated with the labour market. It was found that the groups which emerged in 2005 have a different composition of regions than in 2014; this difference seems to be connected with the economic crisis.