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The labor market impact of mobility restrictions: Evidence from the West Bank

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  • Calì, Massimiliano
  • Miaari, Sami H.

Abstract

Using data on Israeli closures inside the West Bank, we provide novel evidence on the labor market effects of conflict-induced restrictions to mobility. To identify the effects we exploit the fact that the placement of physical barriers by Israel was exogenous to local labor market conditions. Check-points have a significant negative effect on employment, wages and days worked, while other barriers have small positive effects on employment and no discernible effects on other variables. We provide evidence that only a very small portion of these effects is due to direct restrictions on the mobility of workers. According to our estimates the labor market costs of the barriers amounted in 2007 to between 4% and 4.4% of GDP.

Suggested Citation

  • Calì, Massimiliano & Miaari, Sami H., 2018. "The labor market impact of mobility restrictions: Evidence from the West Bank," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 136-151.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:51:y:2018:i:c:p:136-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2017.12.005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hendrik Jürges & Luca Stella & Sameh Hallaq & Alexandra Schwarz, 2022. "Cohort at risk: long-term consequences of conflict for child school achievement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 1-43, January.
    3. Di Maio, Michele & Nisticò, Roberto, 2019. "The effect of parental job loss on child school dropout: Evidence from the Occupied Palestinian Territories," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Hala Aburas & Isam Shahrour, 2021. "Impact of the Mobility Restrictions in the Palestinian Territory on the Population and the Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Belal Fallah, 2017. "The Economic Response of Rural Areas to Local Supply Shock: Evidence From Palestine," Working Papers 1108, Economic Research Forum, revised 06 2017.
    6. Francesco Amodio & Michele Di Maio, "undated". "Making Do with What You Have: Conflict, Firm Performance and Input Misallocation in Palestine," Development Working Papers 379, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    7. Bilal Nabeel Falah & Marcelo Bérgolo & Arwa Abu Hashhash & Mohammad Hattawy & Iman Saadeh, 2019. "The Effect of Labor-Demand Shocks on Women’s Participation in the Labor Force: Evidence from Palestine," Working Papers PMMA 2019-08, PEP-PMMA.
    8. Fallah, Belal, 2021. "The effect of the public sector on private jobs: Evidence from the West Bank," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    9. Aziz Atamanov & Nethra Palaniswamy, 2019. "Poverty Map of the Palestinian Territories," World Bank Publications - Reports 33374, The World Bank Group.
    10. Jürges Hendrik & Westermaier Franz G., 2020. "Conflict Intensity and Birth Outcomes – Evidence from the West Bank," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 1-8, April.
    11. Adnan, Wifag, 2015. "Who gets to cross the border? The impact of mobility restrictions on labor flows in the West Bank," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 86-99.
    12. Saad, Ayhab F. & Fallah, Belal, 2020. "How educational choices respond to large labor market shocks: Evidence from a natural experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. Sameh Hallaq, 2019. "Wage Differential between Palestinian Non-refugees and Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank and Gaza," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_941, Levy Economics Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Conflict; Palestine; Israel; Mobility; Closures; Labor market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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