TY - JOUR

T1 - The spatial division of precarious labour across the European Union regions

T2 - A composite index analysis of the 2008/2009 global economic crisis effects and COVID-19 initial implications

AU - Kapitsinis, Nikos

AU - Gialis, Stelios

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The consecutive crises of the 21st century (2008/2009 global recession, COVID-19) have significantly affected labour organization, adding to work flexibilization and precarization, in a reflection of the shifting needs of capital accumulation. While the patterns of employment reorganization are not evenly distributed across space, the juncture between work precarization and geography has not been examined in depth, with most research efforts focusing on the national scale. This article enriches the emerging literature on composite indices of work transformation by constructing an index for work precariousness on the regional scale. It estimates the very Flexible Contractual Arrangements Composite Index in the European Union NUTS2 regions from 2008 to 2020 to comparatively analyse the effects of the 2008/2009 global recession and the initial implications of COVID-19. The findings highlight a persistent division between peripheral and core regions, with the former being locked in trajectories of high precariousness. As found, economically weak and isolated regions, specialized in agriculture and tourism, with high unemployment and youth inactivity, low wages, ageing population, low skills as well as historically high levels of atypical and informal employment, proved to have the most precarious labour markets.

AB - The consecutive crises of the 21st century (2008/2009 global recession, COVID-19) have significantly affected labour organization, adding to work flexibilization and precarization, in a reflection of the shifting needs of capital accumulation. While the patterns of employment reorganization are not evenly distributed across space, the juncture between work precarization and geography has not been examined in depth, with most research efforts focusing on the national scale. This article enriches the emerging literature on composite indices of work transformation by constructing an index for work precariousness on the regional scale. It estimates the very Flexible Contractual Arrangements Composite Index in the European Union NUTS2 regions from 2008 to 2020 to comparatively analyse the effects of the 2008/2009 global recession and the initial implications of COVID-19. The findings highlight a persistent division between peripheral and core regions, with the former being locked in trajectories of high precariousness. As found, economically weak and isolated regions, specialized in agriculture and tourism, with high unemployment and youth inactivity, low wages, ageing population, low skills as well as historically high levels of atypical and informal employment, proved to have the most precarious labour markets.

KW - 2008/2009 crisis

KW - composite index

KW - COVID-19

KW - EU regions

KW - regional labour market

KW - work precariousness

U2 - 10.1177/09697764231191631

DO - 10.1177/09697764231191631

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85167819275

VL - 30

SP - 380

EP - 403

JO - European Urban and Regional Studies

JF - European Urban and Regional Studies

SN - 0969-7764

IS - 4

ER -