We analyze the effects of the unprecedented rise in trade between Germany and the East - China and Eastern Europe - in the period 1988 - 2008 on German local labor markets. Using detailed administrative data, we exploit the cross-regional variation in initial industry structures and use trade...

This paper examines job polarization at the level of local labor markets in Germany over a 30-year period. The major explanation of job polarization is skill biased technological change (SBTC): new technologies are complementary to high paying jobs but substitute workers in routine manual jobs...

We analyze how globalization has affected the sectoral anatomy of regional growth in Germany over the period 1978-2008. The aggregate German economy is characterized by a secular decline of manufacturing and a rise of modern service industries. This trend - also known as Petty's law - is not...

We analyze the causal effect of commuting on wages, using a large sample of German job changers. Information on their home and workplace addresses in combination with road navigation software allows us to calculate exact door-to-door commuting distances with an unprecedented degree of precision....

Die Arbeitsmarktverhältnisse vor Ort bestimmen in hohem Maß den Erfolg der dort eingesetzten Arbeitsmarktpolitik - und in den Regionen Deutschlands sind die Bedingungen am Arbeitsmarkt sehr unterschiedlich. Um die Leistungen einzelner Arbeitsagenturen und die Wirksamkeit der...

Der ökonomische Erfolg von Betrieben hängt auch von der lokalen Wirtschaftsstruktur ab. Betriebe sind oftmals produktiver, wenn sie in der Nähe zu anderen Betrieben aus der gleichen Branche angesiedelt sind. Hier wird untersucht, wie sich die Standortmuster der Branchen in Westdeutschland...

The German economy exhibits rising service and declining manufacturing employment. But this decline is much sharper in import-competing than in export-oriented branches. We first document the individual-level job transitions behind those trends. They are not driven by manufacturing workers who...

Die Zahlen zur Beschäftigung und zum Leistungsbezug rechtfertigen es gegenwärtig nicht, die Zuwanderung aus Bulgarien und Rumänien pauschal als 'Armutszuwanderung' zu qualifizieren. Zur Jahresmitte 2013 waren rund 60 Prozent der Bulgaren und Rumänen im erwerbsfähigen Alter in Deutschland...

In most countries, average wages tend to be higher in larger cities. In this paper, we focus on the role played by the matching of workers to firms in explaining geographical wage differences. Using rich administrative German data for 1985-2014, we show that wages in large cities are higher not...

We exploit administrative data on exact commuting distances for a large sample of German employees and study the relation of commuting and wages. We find that it requires 1.5 times as much money in terms of higher wages for job changers to accept an increase of their commute as compared to their...