The role of spatial and skill mismatches: explaining long-term unemployment in Paris

ABSTRACTIn the Paris region, one can observe simultaneously the coexistence of a large and dynamic job pool with long-lasting periods of unemployment. This paradox reveals the importance of skill and spatial mismatch mechanisms, which are often used to explain disparities in local labour market outcomes. This paper uses several spatial models to measure the effects of these two mechanisms on unemployment durations in the Paris region. The results show that both problems affect municipalities close to the centre of Paris, while unemployment situations in municipalities on the fringes of the region are mainly affected by a lack of local employment dynamism.