THE HUNGARIAN LABOUR MARKET – REVIEW AND ANALYSIS 2004

The goal of the volume is to review the main developments on the Hungarian labour market and to give an in-depth analysis of key issues. The chapters present ‘stylised facts’ and recent research results, together with selected information and statistical data. Our further intention is to guide readers in finding other relevant publications and reliable statistical sources. This year we put ‘in focus’ regional differences and inequalities. The related chapters try to find the causes of and the cures for spatial inequalities, first by identifying factors behind regional disparities on the labour market, second by investigating the ways and means of alleviating these inequalities with the reallocation of labour and capital. We elaborate on the spatial allocation and movement of firms, and also on the factors determining both. Considering spatial movement of labour we analyse migration, decisions to move or to commute, its costs and motives. The chapter opening the volume gives an overview of recent labour market developments and employment policies. The closing chapter presents a statistical data set, and gives comprehensive information on the main economic developments, such as demographic trends, labour force participation, employment, unemployment and inactivity, wages, education, labour demand and supply, regional differences, migration, commuting, labour relations, along with some international comparison and methodological remarks. Data on wage and income differentials are also presented, together with labour market developments at lower levels of government and in smaller regions. In assembling this chapter we added a separate subsection with abundant data based on the last (2001) and previous general census.