Scars of Youth Non-employment and Labour Market Conditions

In this paper I analyse whether non-employment periods at the initial stage of the work career may increase the propensity to experience non-employment in subsequent years too, using data on young individuals in Italy. The role of labour market conditions in moderating these scarring effects is investigated, exploiting the regional differences across the country. The results provide evidence of negative effects induced by early non-employment. Moreover, the negative repercussions of early non-employment are smaller (higher) in regions with higher (lower) unemployment rates. This evidence can be interpreted using the signaling theory.