This article questions whether the unemployment invariance hypothesis of Layard et al. (2005), which states that movements in labour force do not significantly affect unemployment rates, holds true for Romania. Using quarterly labour force data for the 1996–2012 period, we explore the time-series properties of the two variables. We find that unemployment rates and participation rates have unit roots, and that they are not cointegrated, meaning that no significant long-term relationship exists between them. The analysis carried out on the first differences of unemployment rates and participation rates shows discouraged and added worker effects for Romania’s female labour force. This conclusion diverges from findings that point out to a stable, long-term relationship between unemployment and participation in several developed countries (Japan, Sweden, USA) and shows that Romanian labour market is highly adaptive, where changes in labour force participation do not lead to increases in unemployment. This finding can help model the influence of adverse developments such as ageing and emigration, and show their true impact beyond demographic doom scenarios. It also points out the role played by labour demand in shaping the evolution of the Romanian labour market.

Population migration has two components, domestic and international, those are often analyzed separately. This paper attempts to seek out what are the theoretical and empirical relationships between them, and lays the foundations of a unified based on the similarities of both migratory phenomena. A review of the contributions that discussed the existing dichotomy between the two types of migration and attempted to carry out an integrated analysis is complemented with a review of the most common research approaches for both types. An empirical analysis of net internal and international migration is carried out for several OECD countries, which validates this approach and assesses both the similarities, and the degree of divergence between them that requires a distinct approach

Given the advent of Industry 4.0 and the importance of labour-based automation in ensuring competitiveness at the firm, regional cluster, or country level, the paper aims to explore, for the first time, the features of several estimates of occupational/labour automation and to assess the potential risks associated with it. A comparative analysis of the most well-established estimates of labour automation, the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) degree of automation estimates and Frey and Osborne’s future probabilities of automation was carried out to see whether, and to what extent, these estimates are compatible. Results show significant distributional differences between them, which are quantified into automation-triggered disruption risks at the occupational level, as current levels of labour automation are, in some cases, well below their future estimates. Work context features were used to derive a typology of occupations, which can explain up to one-third of the current, and up to half of the future levels of labour automation. Finally, we identified which occupations and occupational groups are likely to be affected by the highest risk of automation-induced displacement and estimated the magnitude of different disruption classes. Conclusions are compatible with other economywide assessments of the impact of labour automation on the workforce, thus being valuable inputs for corporate strategy, decision-makers and human resource planners as they address a growing need for quantitative insights useful for adapting the labour force structure, workers’ skills, and the task content of occupations to the competitiveness requirements related to the process of digitization in the Industry 4.0 context.

The joint analysis of internal and international migration is increasingly popular. This paper advocates this approach through a review of the theories and drivers of both types of migration. It shows that most of the models and variables used in the analysis of one type of migration are valid for the other. A fixed-effects panel econometric model using internal and international migration departures data from EUROSTAT between 2000 and 2007 proves substitution between the two migration streams. Finally, the benefits to be achieved by using integrated models of human migration are pointed out, along with future potential research directions