Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/17835 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
Kiel Working Paper No. 1307
Publisher: 
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Kiel
Abstract: 
This paper presents a spatial analysis of unemployment rates in Germany. The goal of this analysis is to explain the stubbornly low labor productivity and high unemployment rates in Eastern Germany. We build a model of commuting to distinguish between worker and job characteristics as the main causes of the low labor productivity, and use the method of simulated moments to estimate the East-West ratios of worker and job characteristics. The 'slope? of the unemployment rate across the former East-West border serves as the main identification of the model. The preliminary results suggest that East and West German skills are very similar, while job characteristics differ significantly between East and West.
Subjects: 
Transferability of Human Capital
Spatial Allocation of Labor
JEL: 
J61
C15
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
783.61 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.