Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/18473 
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 580
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the causal effect of geographic labour mobility on income. The returns to German East-West migration and commuting are estimated exploiting the structure of centrally planned economies and a "natural experiment" of German reunification for identification. I find that migration premium is insignificantly different from zero, the returns for commuters equal to four percent of the mean of the total income, and the local average treatment effects for compliers are insignificant. In addition, estimation results suggest no positive self-selection for migrants, and some evidence of positive self-selection for commuters. Based on these results, moving West does not appear to be a highly rewarded option in Germany.
Subjects: 
returns to geographic mobility
causality
treatment effects
JEL: 
F22
J61
J62
R23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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