Joachim Ragnitz, ifo Niederlassung Dresden, zieht eine wirtschaftliche Bilanz 20 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall und schlägt einen Zehn-Punkte-Plan für die neuen Länder vor. Seiner Meinung nach solle der Bund über seine eingegangenen Verpflichtungen im Solidarpakt II hinaus Engagement in den neuen...

We exploit a unique historical setting to investigate how refugee-specific government aid affects the medium-term outcomes of refugees who migrate as children and young adults. German Democratic Republic (GDR) refugees who escaped to West Germany between 1946 and 1961 who were acknowledged to be...

This paper uses micro data to analyze the wage structures in East Germany and West Germany before and after unification. In 1988, the wage distribution in East Germany was much more compressed than in West Germany or in the U.S. Since the collapse of Communism and unification with West Germany,...

Retraining the labor force to match the demands of a modern economy is an important task during the transition process from a centrally planned to a market economy. This need is particular pressing in East Germany, because the transition process is much faster there than in the rest of Eastern...

Employment termination in East Germany in the first nine months after unification is analyzed within a discrete hazard rate model with three absorbing states, namely short-time work, unemployment and non-participation. Estimation is based on a cohort of employed individuals in June 1990 and the...