I examine the determinants of inter-state migration of adults within western Germany, using the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1984-2000. Migrants who do not change employers represent one-fifth of all migrants and have higher education and pre-move wages than non-migrants. Skilled workers...

Using the 2003 National Survey of College Graduates, I examine how immigrants perform relative to natives in activities likely to increase U.S. productivity, according to the type of visa on which they first entered the United States. Immigrants who first entered on a student/trainee visa or a...

We measure the extent to which skilled immigrants increase innovation in the United States. The 2003 National Survey of College Graduates shows that immigrants patent at double the native rate, due to their disproportionately holding science and engineering degrees. Using a 1940-2000 state...

This paper examines the mobility of individuals through the wage and earnings distributions, using 1979-1991 data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Lifetime wages will be more equally distributed than wages from any single year if individuals change position in the wage...

In 1997 GDP per capita in East Germany was 57% of that of West Germany, wage rates were 75% of western levels, and the unemployment rate was at least double the western rate of 7.8%. One would expect that if capital flows and trade in goods failed to bring convergence, labour flows would...

Using detailed Peruvian data measuring bribery, I assess which types of public official are most corrupt and why. I distinguish between the bribery rate and the size of bribes received, and seek to explain the variation in each across public institutions. The characteristics of officials'...

Using cross--country and Peruvian data, I show that victims of misfortune, particularly crime victims, are much more likely than non--victims to bribe public officials. Misfortune increases victims' demand for public services, raising bribery indirectly, and also increases victims' propensity to...

Using cross-country and Peruvian data, I show that victims of misfortune, particularly crime victims, are much more likely than non-victims to bribe public officials. Misfortune increases victims' demand for public services, raising bribery indirectly, and also increases victims' propensity to...

West Germany's Employment Promotion Act of 1985 facilitated the use of fixed-term contracts and increased the number of dismissals above which the employer is required to establish a "social plan" (involving severance payments). I assess the effect of this reduction in "firing costs" on...

This paper uses census data to examine the impact on the French labor market of the 900,000 people repatriated from Algeria in 1962. Repatriates settled in regions culturally and climatically similar to Algeria, and represented 1.6% of the total French labor force in 1968. Estimates indicate...