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The Geographical Mobility of Unemployed Workers: Evidence from West Germany

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  • Arntz, Melanie

Abstract

Using a competing-risk framework of exiting unemployment to jobs in a local or a distant labor market area, this paper investigates whether unemployed individuals in West Germany choose search strategies that favor migrating out of declining regions. Moreover, the paper investigates how such search strategies are affected by the local accommodation of labor market programs. Such programs have been suggested to lead to a regional locking-in effect. Empirical results are obtained from a stratified Cox partial likelihood proportional hazards model that allows for location-specific fixed effects and are compared to estimates from a parametric log-logistic hazard model that takes account of unobserved individual heterogeneity. The findings indicate that unemployed in West Germany are responsive to local labor market conditions and are more likely to leave regions with unfavorable re-employment opportunities. No locking-in effect from labor market programs is found. The probability of migration is found to increase with search time.

Suggested Citation

  • Arntz, Melanie, 2005. "The Geographical Mobility of Unemployed Workers: Evidence from West Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-34, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:3188
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandra Fedorets & Franziska Lottmann & Michael Stops, 2019. "Job matching in connected regional and occupational labour markets," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(8), pages 1085-1098, August.
    2. Christoph Kern, 2014. "Regional Structures and Mobility Dispositions: A Multilevel Proportional- & Partial-Proportional Odds Approach," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 681, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Caliendo, Marco & Künn, Steffen & Mahlstedt, Robert, 2017. "The return to labor market mobility: An evaluation of relocation assistance for the unemployed," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 136-151.
    4. Melanie Arntz, 2010. "What Attracts Human Capital? Understanding the Skill Composition of Interregional Job Matches in Germany," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 423-441.
    5. Sabine Klinger & Thomas Rothe, 2012. "The Impact of Labour Market Reforms and Economic Performance on the Matching of the Short‐term and the Long‐term Unemployed," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 59(1), pages 90-114, February.
    6. Melanie Arntz & Ralf Wilke, 2009. "Unemployment Duration in Germany: Individual and Regional Determinants of Local Job Finding, Migration and Subsidized Employment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 43-61.
    7. Boris Hirsch & Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel, 2010. "Differences in Labor Supply to Monopsonistic Firms and the Gender Pay Gap: An Empirical Analysis Using Linked Employer-Employee Data from Germany," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 291-330, April.
    8. repec:iab:iabfme:200806(en is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Kleifgen, Eva & Lang, Julia, 2022. "Should I Train Or Should I Go? Estimating Treatment Effects of Retraining on Regional and Occupational Mobility," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264069, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Fendel Tanja, 2016. "Migration and Regional Wage Disparities in Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 236(1), pages 3-35, February.
    11. Wrede, Matthias, 2011. "Unemployment, commuting, and search intensity," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 12/2011, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    12. Riccardo Crescenzi & Luisa Gagliardi & Enrico Orru', 2016. "Learning mobility grants and skill (mis)matching in the labour market: The case of the ‘Master and Back’ Programme," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(4), pages 693-707, November.
    13. Hirsch, Boris & Schank, Thorsten & Schnabel, Claus, 2006. "Gender Differences in Labor Supply to Monopsonistic Firms : An Empirical Analysis Using Linked Employer-Employee Data from Germany," Discussion Papers 47, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    14. Martin Abraham & Katrin Auspurg & Sebastian Bähr & Corinna Frodermann & Stefanie Gundert & Thomas Hinz, 2013. "Unemployment and willingness to accept job offers: results of a factorial survey experiment [Arbeitslosigkeit und Stellenannahmebereitschaft: Erste Ergebnisse eines Faktoriellen Survey Moduls]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 46(4), pages 283-305, December.
    15. Bernd Fitzenberger & Ralf Wilke, 2006. "Using quantile regression for duration analysis," AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis, Springer;German Statistical Society, vol. 90(1), pages 105-120, March.
    16. Arntz, Melanie & Lo, Simon M. S. & Wilke, Ralf A., 2008. "Bounds analysis of competing risks : a nonparametric evaluation of the effect of unemployment benefits on migration in Germany (Revised version of the FDZ Methodenbericht No. 04/2007)," FDZ Methodenreport 200806_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    17. repec:iab:iabfme:200704(en is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Belit Saka, 2012. "Internal Migration of Ethnic Minorities: Evidence from Western Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 495, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    19. Tanja Fendel, 2014. "Work-related Migration and Unemployment [Beschäftigungsmotivierte Umzüge und Arbeitslosigkeit]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 47(3), pages 233-243, September.
    20. Boris Hirsch & Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel, 2008. "Differences in Labor Supply to Monopsonistic Firms and the Gender Pay Gap: An Empirical Analysis Using Linked Employer-Employee Data from Germany," Working Papers 1111, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    interregional mobility; unemployment duration; competing-risk; active labor market policy; unobserved location-specific heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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