Migrants are among the groups most vulnerable to economic fluctuations. As predicted by the 'welfare magnet' hypothesis, migrants can therefore be expected to--ceteris paribus--prefer countries with more generous welfare provisions to insure themselves against labor market risks. This paper...

Stylized facts show that migrants more often face overqualified employment than natives. As shown by previous research, one third of the employed foreign born with tertiary education in the EU-15 are overqualified, with levels reaching up to 57.6%, compared to 20.9% among natives. Among the...

Migration and Regional Convergence in the European Union European migration trends in the last decade have been marked by a number of spectacular changes. In the course of the recent enlargement immigration to some EU15 countries from the CEECs has become remarkable. Nevertheless, the vast...

The migration literature shows that cross-border skill transfer is associated with a risk of increased job-education mismatch. This paper examines whether the problems of job-education mismatch often found among migrants also apply to cross-border commuters and compares cross-border commuters to...

This paper analyses the effects of three previous enlargements of the European Union on newly joining and old member states. We find that overall the effects of enlargements on regional employment, wage and population growth, as well as investment rates were small. We also find substantial...

We estimate a linear approximation of the market potential function for Europe as derived in geography and trade models. Using a spatial econometric estimation approach, border effects are identified by a differential impact of nearby regions' purchasing power, depending on whether two regions...

This paper explores the willingness to migrate in the Czech Republic. We find that variables measuring regional labour market conditions and amenities contribute little to explaining the willingness to migrate, but that personal and household characteristics are more important. Persons owning...

This paper analyses the evolution of regional unemployment rates, wages, participation rates, migration and employment of seven candidate countries in the 1990's and compares their regional labour market adjustment to a set of EU member states. I find that persistence in relative regional...

I analyse cross-border co-operation of Austrian firms with CEEC partners. Firm size, previous experience with co-operation and depth of integration with the most important partner are more important determinants of co-operation than distance to the closest potential partner. Firms with...