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

Author

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  • Massimiliano Cal�

    (World Bank)

  • Sami H. Miaari

    (World Bank)

Abstract

Using data on Israeli closure in the Palestinian West Bank, we provide new evidence on the labour market effects of conflict-induced restrictions to mobility. We exploit the fact that the placement of physical barriers by Israel was exogenous to local labour market conditions and find a causal negative effect of these barriers on employment, wages and days worked per month. On the other hand the barriers had a positive impact on the number of hours per working day. These effects are driven mainly by checkpoints and only a tiny portion of the effects is due to direct restrictions on workers� mobility. Despite being an under-estimation of the actual effects, the overall costs of the barriers on the West Bank labour market are far from being negligible: in 2007 for example these costs amounted to 6% of GDP.

Suggested Citation

  • Massimiliano Cal� & Sami H. Miaari, 2012. "The labour market impact of mobility restrictions: Evidence from the West Bank," HiCN Working Papers 130, Households in Conflict Network.
    • Handle: RePEc:hic:wpaper:130
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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; Intifada;
    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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