Exploring the Impact of Economic Complexity on Youth and Gender-Specific Unemployment in Türkiye: Novel Time Series Results from the ARDL Bounds Test

KOÇAK S., Cil D., Karis C.

Gender Issues, vol.42, no.2, 2025 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 42 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s12147-025-09357-9
  • Journal Name: Gender Issues
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, ABI/INFORM, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Gender Studies Database, Index Islamicus, Psycinfo, Religion and Philosophy Collection, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Keywords: ARDL bounds test, Economic complexity ındex, Female and male youth unemployment, Türkiye, Youth unemployment
  • Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Economic complexity has the potential to both create and destroy employment opportunities in the labour market. However, the literature has not yet reached a consensus on the positive and adverse effects of the economic complexity index on the labour market. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the short- and long-term effects of the economic complexity index on youth unemployment and female and male youth unemployment in Türkiye’s economy over the period 1995–2021, using the distributed lag autoregressive (ARDL) bounds test approach. The results of the ARDL bounds test, which revealed the existence of a long-term cointegration relationship for the model under consideration, revealed that the economic complexity index has a positive effect on youth unemployment in both the short and long term. Furthermore, the economic complexity index increases both short- and long-term unemployment among female and male youth in both the short and long term. The results are important both for investigating the effects of the economic complexity index on the labour market of the relevant economy and for focusing on youth unemployment and female and male youth unemployment rather than unemployment with the time series approach.