Discouraged workers and the dominance of added worker effect : "the case of Turkey"

Abstract

This thesis includes two different studies. In the first chapter, we examine how socioeconomic factors affect the probability of being discouraged for the individuals who do not have a regular job. We find that the factors such as gender, age, marital status, education level, previous work experience, living in urban or rural areas, and Gross Domestic Product per capita level of the region that the individual lives have significant impact on the decision of the individual for leaving the labor force or not. Moreover, the reason of unemployment and the duration of unemployment of the individual who has previous work experience also affect this decision significantly. In the second chapter, we examine the dominance of Added Worker Effect for Turkey. We show that Added Worker Effect is significantly dominant over Discouraged Worker Effect. We also find that, in Turkey, motherhood is an obstacle for married women to participate in labor force. Finally, we conclude that Added Worker Effect is not a completely consequence of the economic crisis in Turkey. Both the income loss of the household head and the risk that household leader may loose his job drive married women into labor force more and cause them to work for more hours.