Conclusions and Implications
| Autor | Jeisson Cárdenas Rubio |
| Páginas | 298-326 |
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A WEB -BASE D APPRO ACH TO M E A SU R E S KILL MISM ATCHE S AND S KILL S PROFI LES FO R A DEV ELOPI NG COUN TRY
10. Conclusions and Implications
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10.1. Introduction
This book inve stigated to what extent a web-ba sed model of skill mismatc hes
could be developed for Colombia , where information rega rding the labour ma r-
ket is relatively scarce. In part icular, this research sought to a nswer how and
to what extent novel sou rces of information from job por tals might be used to
inform polic y recommendations, espec ially to address two m ajor labour market
problems in Colombia, wh ich are relatively hig h unemployment and infor mality
rates (9.4% and 47.2% in 2017, respectively). Indeed, the Colombian economy
had the second highest unemployment rate in t he Latin Amer ican region in
2015, and the informalit y rate was around 1.4 percentage points higher t han
the Latin American average in the same year (ILO 2016b) (see Chapter 3).
Under the model of per fect competition, the over- or under supply of skills
(skill mism atches expressed in in formality and u nemployment) only arise over
the short ter m (Bosworth, Dawki ns, and Stromback, 1996). Conse quently, this
mode cannot ex plain the high and per sistent informal a nd unemployment rates
that exist i n countries like Colombia. The c onditions needed for perfect com-
petition seldom exist because agents usually possess i mperfect information
about offered sk ills and those in demand (Ga ribaldi 2006; Reich, Gord on, and
Edwards 1973; Stiglitz et al. 2013). This failure in t he labour market ca n cre-
ate skill shor tages. Workers with the skil ls demanded by employers are more
likely to be engaged i n the formal economy, while workers w ithout the “proper”
skills have mor e chances of being absorbed by the i nformal economy or being
unemployed. Consequently, an economic model with i mperfect infor mation
better expla ins labour market outc omes in countries lik e Colombia (Chapter 2).
The evidence gathered for this docu ment suggests that one of the lead-
ing causes of high u nemployment and informality rates in Colombia is due to
skill shor tages. Employers, labour market experts, and national and interna-
tional inst itutions agree that, in general, Colombian job seekers do not have
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