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Flexicurity Index for Disabled People: A Spatial Approach

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Abstract

In this paper we propose a two step analysis. In the first phase, we introduce a flexicurity index for disabled people by using Italian regional data; then, we apply the local Moran transition probability matrix to the flexicurity index in order to evaluate the presence of spatio-temporal persistence in its distribution. The results show that Northern Italy regions have a higher degree of flexicurity than Southern Italy ones. The low level of flexicurity is a consequence of the high concentration of civilian disability pensions among people in working age (passive measure). In addition, we show that the persistence of regional dualism, in terms of flexicurity, can be reduced through income support tools that are different from passive measure and are characterized by more flexibility in their allocation process.

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Notes

  1. The term flexicurity is used to refer to combinations of labour market flexibility and high levels of social security. Flexicurity can be characterized as a “third way” strategy between the flexibility generally attributed to the Anglo-Saxon labour market and the strict job security characterizing Southern European countries or between the flexibility of liberal market economies and the social safety nets of the traditional Scandinavian welfare states (OECD 2004; Madsen 2004, 2007).

  2. ALMPs measure can be defined as either the expenditure (as a percentage of GDP) on ALMPs or the number of participants in ALMP programmes. The empirical analysis uses the participants in programmes of active policies as a percentage of the labour force (Altavilla and Caroleo 2013). We use the number of disabled people participating in ALMP as a percentage of the labour force of people with disabilities.

  3. Secondo Rapporto sulla coesione sociale. http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/53075 (accessed 16 November 2013).

  4. Law 247 of 29 December 2007 has changed Article 13 of Law 68/99, providing the employer with a contribution for each disabled worker on permanent contracts by agreement in compliance with Article 11 of Law 68/99. The requirement for giving the employer a contribution for each disabled worker is that hiring has occurred under a permanent contract and that the employment relationship is still ongoing.

  5. Civilian disability pensions are not connected with national insurance contributions; they are paid to disabled people on the basis of their physical characteristics (e.g., people affected by blindness, deafness, or other types of impairments). These pensions are also paid to people with no income or insufficient income after the age of 65 (Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali 2006, 2008).

  6. http://www.istat.it/it/assistenza-e-previdenza (accessed 16 November 2013).

  7. Generally, in the case of non-substitutability of the basic components, it is normal to use the geometric mean (Biehl 1991). However, the geometric mean assumes that the greatness to synthesize is multiplicative rather than additive, and gives greater weight to lower values. Besides, it cannot be computed in the presence of negative values or zero.

  8. The arrow indicates the transition; the bold letter indicates the region that moves.

  9. The Moran scatterplot provides a tool for visual exploration of spatial autocorrelation (Anselin 1996, 2002). The four different quadrants of the scatterplot identify four types of local spatial association between a region and its neighbours:

    (HH) a region with a high FI surrounded by neighbours with high FI (quadrant I);

    (LH) a region with a low FI surrounded by neighbours with high FI (quadrant II);

    (LL) a region with a low FI surrounded by neighbours with low FI (quadrant III);

    (HL) a region with a high FI surrounded by neighbours with low FI (quadrant IV).

    Quadrants I and III pertain to positive forms of spatial dependence while quadrants II and IV represent negative spatial dependence (Rey and Montouri 1999).

  10. We obtain the same results by using a rook and a bishop contiguity matrix.

  11. The null hypothesis of Moran’s I test is spatial independence. According to our results, we reject the null hypothesis at the 1 % level and we conclude that the annual average FI of regions presents spatial autocorrelation.

  12. Moran’s I test, implemented on efficiency scores for each year analyzed, always rejects the null hypothesis of spatial independence. We do not show for brevity the results, but interested readers can request the author for them.

  13. By an ‘absorbing state’, we mean that the probability of the individual subsequently exiting that state is close to zero. The rules governing the attribution of civilian disability pensions are clearly defined and uniform at the national level. However, the application of these rules is deferred to local medical and administrative committees, which have discretion in interpreting these general rules. These institutions may take into account local socio-economic conditions; this may explain the varying distribution of CDP across regions. Finally, civilian disability pensions are not a flexible instrument; once granted, they are very rarely withdrawn, even though such withdrawal is technically possible (Agovino and Parodi 2012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business and Economic Studies, University “Parthenope” of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Massimiliano Agovino

  2. Department of Economics, “G. D’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy

    Agnese Rapposelli

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  1. Massimiliano Agovino
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  2. Agnese Rapposelli
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Correspondence to Massimiliano Agovino.

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Agovino, M., Rapposelli, A. Flexicurity Index for Disabled People: A Spatial Approach. Appl. Spatial Analysis 9, 119–140 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-015-9136-4

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