At the crossroads: The impact of inter-ethnic tolerance on labor force participation in the South Caucasus
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Date
2021-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
I provide an empirical analysis to determine the effects of self-reported levels of tolerance, or inter-ethnic openness, on individual propensity for labor force participation in Eurasia's South Caucasus region. Labor force participation (the sum of those employed and unemployed yet seeking work) is used as an indicator of supply in the labor market model and is vital for understanding factors that constitute a region's potential future supply of labor and human resources. This analysis uses data from the 2013 Caucasus Barometer, an annual socio-economic survey given across the three countries of the South Caucasus. I use data from this survey to construct an inter-ethnic tolerance index, which is then used to estimate how inter-ethnic tolerance levels effect propensity for labor force participation across the region. The findings confirm that greater inter-ethnic tolerance at both a professional and personal level lead to a statistically significantly higher propensity for labor force participation. Additionally, it is found that level of education and exposure to the internet are connected to higher odds of less inter-ethnic tolerance. This suggests that inter-ethnic tolerance should be considered as a determinant of labor supply across the region, and that further analysis should be done to determine the potentially polarizing effects of higher education and internet usage.
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Keywords
South Caucasus, labor force participation, tolerance, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan