The geographical concentration of unemployment: a male-female comparison in Spain

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse gender differences in the spatial distribution of unemployment. Specifically, we explore whether agglomeration can influence gender gaps in unemployment rates. In doing so, we use tools from the literature on economic geography and income distribution and we adapt them to our case. Using data from Spain, we show that the advantage of living in large cities does not affect women and men equally; agglomeration seems to favour especially the female population. Our results also suggest that the female employment premium appears only in municipalities of a certain size.