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Institut für Weltwirtschaft (IfW), Kiel >
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http://hdl.handle.net/10419/24858
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| Title: | | Escaping the unemployment trap: the case of East Germany  |
| Authors: | | Merkl, Christian Snower, Dennis J. |
| Issue Date: | | 2008 |
| Citation: | | [Series:] Kiel working paper [No.:] 1309 [rev.] [Editor:] Kiel Inst. for the World Economy, Kiel |
| Series/Report no.: | | Kiel working paper 1309 [rev.] |
| Abstract: | | This paper addresses the question of why prolonged regional unemployment differentials tend to persist even after their proximate causes have been reversed (e.g., after wages in the highunemployment regions have fallen relative to those in the low-unemployment regions). We suggest that the longer people are unemployed, the greater is the likelihood of falling into a low-productivity trap, through the attrition of skills and work habits. We develop and calibrate a model along these lines for East Germany and examine the effectiveness of three employment policies in this context: (i) a weakening of workers' position in wage negotiations due to a drop in the replacement rate or firing costs, leading to a fall in wages, (ii) hiring subsidies, and (iii) training subsidies. We show that the employment effects of these policies depend crucially on whether low-productivity traps are present. |
| Subjects: | | Labor market labor market traps calibration East Germany |
| JEL: | | E24 J30 J31 J64 |
| Document Type: | | Working Paper |
| Appears in Collections: | | Publikationen von Forscherinnen und Forschern des IfW Kieler Arbeitspapiere, IfW Economists Online
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