Each state or region within the United States has certain unique and distinct characteristics that cause its economic performance to vary from that of the nation as a whole. Unemployment rates, as summary measures of unutilized manpower resources, frequently serve as a gauge of the general economic situation and social well-being. It is a well documented fact that unemployment is not evenly distributed througout the nation. For example, although 54% of the labor force is concetrated in the northeast and north central regions, they only account for 46% of the unemployment in recent years. This thesis focuses on the measurement and behavior of unemployed in Indiana, with particular attention devoted to contrasting performance by the State's economy with that of the nation as a whole.

The objective of this paper is to explain differences in the economic performance of selected advanced capitalist countries between 1960 and 1980, such as rates of unemployment, level of inflation rates and economic growth rates, with the presence or absence of corporatist arrangements between major interest groups and the State, and with the strength of leftist parties in these nations. In reviewing the literature, I have found basically two approaches to corporatism: ( 1) a 'structural' approach, which emphasizes sociological characteristics of the actors, especially labor unions; and (2) a 'functional' approach, which stresses elements of policy formation and implementation. Using factor analysis, I will create a corporatism score for each country. According to Olson's 'Logic of Collective Action', nations with corporatist arrangements (large and centrally organized interest groups) should do better economically (in terms of growth rates) than nations without these arrangements. However, this application has been criticized, since economic growth would be a relatively automatic function of size and degree of organization of interest groups in a given nation, and would not leave any room for strategic considerations, which can be influenced by political parties. Therefore, I will perform a LISREL analysis for two competing models: (1) an 'additive' model, where I compare the independent effects of corporatist arrangements and leftist parties on strike activity, unemployment rates, inflation rates, and GDP growth rates; and (2) a 'multiplicative' or conditional model, where the effects of corporatism on economic performance depend on the strength of left parties, and vice versa. My findings do not strongly support the 'additive' model, whose policy implications for countries that wish to be more successful economically in terms of growth of GDP would be to pursue more corporatist strategies. With the notable exception of economic growth rates, on which the combined effects of corporatism and left parties have a strong, negative effect, the 'multiplicative' model is far more successful in explaining differences in economic performance among nations: I have found strong negative. indirect effects of this combined index on unemployment and inflation rates. An implication is that those countries with strong left parties and already existing corporatist arrangements could pursue strategies to extend corporatist arrangements with the hope of gain, while countries without strong left parties and corporatist arrangements might abstain from a policy of becoming more corporatist, since absence of strong labor-based parties might impede rather than promote economic growth. They might even try to reduce their extent of corporatism. / Master of Arts

Abstract Background. It is relatively well established in previous research that unemployment has direct health consequences in terms of mental and physical ill health. Recently, knowledge has emerged indicating that unemployment can lead to economic consequences that remain long after re-establishment in the labour market. However, few empirical studies have been able to apply a life course perspective asking whether there are also long-term health consequences of unemployment, and, when and in which context unemployment may affect the individual health status across the life course. The aim of this thesis was to analyse the relationship between unemployment and illness across the life course, and how it relates to individual and structural factors in the geographical setting of northern Sweden. In particular, three main areas have been explored: youth unemployment and illness in adulthood (Paper I and Paper II), contextual unemployment of national unemployment rate and neighbourhood unemployment (Paper II and Paper III) and lastly, social determinants of health inequality between employment statuses (Paper IV). Methods. This thesis is positioned in Sweden between the early 1980s and the mid-2010s, following two comparable cohorts sampled from northern Sweden (26 and 19 years follow-up time respectively from youth to midlife) and a cross-sectional sample from 2014 of the four northernmost counties in Sweden. The two longitudinal cohorts comprised the Northern Swedish Cohort and the Younger Northern Swedish Cohort, consisting of all pupils in the 9th grade of compulsory school in Luleå municipality in 1981 and 1989. The participants responded to an extensive questionnaire on socioeconomic factors, work and health, in 5 and 2 waves respectively of data collections. Neighbourhood register data from Statistics Sweden was also collected for all participants in the Northern Sweden Cohort. At the latest data collection, 94.3% (n=1010) participated in the Northern Sweden Cohort and 85.6% (n=686) in the Younger Northern Sweden Cohort. The cross-sectional study Health on Equal Terms is a national study, administered by the Public Health Agency together with Statistics Sweden and county councils with the aim of mapping public health and living conditions in the country over time. In this thesis, material from 2014 has been used for northern Sweden with a response rate of around 50% (effective sample n=12769). The statistical analyses used were linear regression, multilevel analysis and difference-in-difference analysis to estimate the concurrent and long-term health consequences of unemployment, and a decomposition analysis to disentangle the inequality in health between different labour market positions. The health outcomes in focus were functional somatic symptoms (the occurrence of relatively common physical illnesses such as head, muscle and stomach ache, insomnia and palpitation) and psychological distress. Results. Among men only, as little as one month of youth unemployment was related to increased levels of functional somatic symptoms in midlife, regardless of previous ill health or unemployment later in life, although only during relatively low national unemployment (pre-recession) when comparing with youth unemployment during high national unemployment (recession). This was explained by the health promoting effect of more time spent in higher education during the recession period. Furthermore, the health impact of neighbourhood unemployment highlights the importance of the contextual setting for individuals’ health both across the life course and at specific periods of life. Lastly, employment-related mental health inequalities exist for both men and women in all life phases (youth, adulthood and midlife). Economic and social deprivation related to unemployment and illness varied across different phases in life and across genders. Conclusion. The key findings of this thesis paint a rather pessimistic vision of the future: one’s own and others’ unemployment may cause not only ill health today but also ill health later in life. Importantly, the responsibility of unemployment and the associated ill health should not be placed on the already marginalised individuals and communities. Instead, the responsibility should be directed towards the structural aspects of society and the political choices that shape these. In other words, health inequality manifested by the position in the labour market is socially produced, unfair and changeable through political decisions. The results of this study therefore cannot contribute to any simple or concrete solutions to the concurrent or long-term health consequences of individual or contextual unemployment, as the solution is beyond the areas of responsibility and abilities of research. However, if there are long-term health consequences of one’s own and other people’s unemployment, labour market and public health policies should be initiated from a young age and continue throughout the life course to reduce individual suffering and future costs of social insurance, sick-leave and unemployment benefits.