The Unassuming Economist

From a paper by Saeeda Batool, and Saira Tufail:

“This study examines the link between the energy market dynamics and labor market outcomes with a focus on the impact of oil market shocks, energy-related uncertainties, and risks on labor income share. Utilizing Panel Structural Vector Autoregression (PSVAR) for a group of 29 OECD countries over the period of 1999 to 2021, this research offers key insights for economies navigating the challenge of ensuring energy security while safeguarding workers’ incomes amid evolving energy markets. The results of the impulse response analysis revealed that among different energy market dynamics, the oil price has a strong negative impact on labor income, whereas higher aggregate demand tends to increase the share of labor income. Similarly, shocks to energy security risks and energy-related uncertainties reduce labor income. The variance decomposition analysis confirms that oil supply shocks are the main factor accounting for the variability in labor income, followed by oil demand shocks. Additionally, energy security risks and economic uncertainty significantly shape the labor income variability, particularly in the medium to long term, by increasing the volatility and unpredictability in labor markets. These findings underscore the critical need for policies that address the vulnerabilities of the labor income share against these shocks.”