The impact of unemployment on economic growth in Honduras: from a sex perspective 1991-2019

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between production and unemployment in light of Okun's Law by sex for Honduras, during the period 1991 - 2019. It is employed by means of a simple regression of the first differences model and estimated by OLS, this through three approaches: from the total population, the male and female population. The results of the three approaches establish the negative sign of the Okun coefficient as evidence of the inverse relationship between variations in GDP and the unemployment rate, in which the male population is the most affected by variations in GDP due to a greater magnitude of the Okun coefficient, explained by the Honduran labor structure, where the most relevant economic activities have a greater male participation. However, these coefficients are not statistically significant, not complying with Okun's law for the Honduran economy. This implies the non-application of the model for the country's economy, as well as the consideration of more variables that explain the causality of the unemployment rate, in a labor market marked by informality and underemployment.