Acumulación de capital y población obrera relativa: Una mirada al desempleo juvenil en Colombia 2007 - 2024

Abstract

Youth unemployment is predominantly studied from orthodox and heterodox economic theory. However, studies from Marxist economic theory are margina Youth unemployment is predominantly studied from orthodox and heterodox economic theory. However, studies from Marxist economic theory are marginal. Thus, this study analyzes youth unemployment in Colombia during the period 2007–2024 using two theories: Karl Marx's theory of the relative working population and Anwar Shaikh's critique of neoclassical and heterodox unemployment theories. It proposes to explain youth unemployment based on its correlation with capital accumulation and labor market exclusion, demonstrating that this phenomenon is a structural, necessary, and permanent condition of Colombian capitalism. The study suggests that both categories capture the problem with 54% significance in the long term and 70% in the short term; furthermore, it establishes a structural youth unemployment coefficient of 5.74 for the long term and 0.12 for the short term. Also, a reproduction coefficient of the relative youth working population is established in the long term of 0.503 and for the short term of 0.552, for each point increase in youth unemployment; and an inverse relationship between investment and youth unemployment of -0.92 and -0.16 depending on the short and long term.