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Labor Mobility In Egypt

LABOUR MARKET MOBILITY AMONG EGYPTIAN YOUTH

Dennis A. Ahlburg
Industrial Relations Center
Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota
321 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis MN 55455
U.S.A
and
Division of Social Statistics
University of Southampton
Highfield U. K.
dahlburg@csom.umn.edu

and

Mona Amer
University of Cairo
Faculty of Economics and Political Science
and
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
mona_amer@yahoo.fr

November 1 2004

* Thanks to Ragui Assaad, Cynthia Lloyd, Alia El Mahdi, Ozlem Onaran, and Insan Tunali for comments on the paper. The authors acknowledge funding support from the International Center for Economic Growth, through its Economic Policy Initiative Consortium Project in Egypt funded by USAID and from the Fesler-Lampert Professorship (Ahlburg).

Abstract
This paper investigates the dynamics of labor market experiences of young Egyptians. Sectoral persistence was found to be high, especially for women. Over an eight year period almost three-quarters of women and 41 percent of men did not change their sector. Over this period 50 percent of women remained unemployed but only 17 percent of men remained so. Women who left the labor force were unlikely to return while men who re-entered the labor force found work in the private sector and the irregular sector. Public sector employment is highly prized and this sector continues to dominate employment of young women but its importance as an employer for young males has declined. Mobility was found to have increased since the 1980s, particularly for young men

In the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, political leaders in the West have expressed concern that rapidly growing populations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) may present a threat to the security of the West. In particular, youth unemployment is seen as a key factor driving radicalism in the Arab world. Robert Zoellick, the U.S. trade representative, stated:...