Who Benefits from Place-Based Policies? Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data

We study the granular wage and employment effects of a German place-based policy using a research design that leverages EU-wide rules governing program parameters at the regional level. The program subsidizes investments to create jobs with a subsidy rate that varies across labor market regions. We use matched data on the universe of establishments and their employees, establishment-level panel data on program participation, and regional scores that generate spatial discontinuities in program eligibility and generosity. Spatial spillovers of the program linked to changing commuting patterns can be assessed using information on place of work and place of residence, a unique feature of the data. We find that the program helps establishments create jobs that disproportionately benefit younger and less-educated workers. Funded establishments increase their wages, but, unlike employment, wage gains do not persist in the long run. Employment effects estimated at the local level are slightly larger than establishment-level estimates, suggesting limited economic spillover effect. Spatial spillovers are large as over half of the employment increase comes from commuters. Using subsidy rates as an instrumental variable for actual subsidies indicates that it costs approximately EUR 25,000 to create a new job in the economically disadvantaged areas targeted by the program.