Germany experienced an even deeper fall in GDP in the Great Recession than the United States with little employment loss. Employers’ reticence to hire in the preceding expansion - associated in part with a lack of confidence it would last - contributed to an employment shortfall equivalent to...

Following the unification of Germany in 1990, eastern wages and unemployment both rose rapidly. I demonstrate that rising wages reduced eastern emigration greatly, while rising unemployment had little effect. This reflects the behavior of the young, who are very sensitive to source region wages,...