Are Rural Firms Left Behind? Firm Location and Perceived Job Attractiveness of High-skilled Workers
Matthias Brachert, Sabrina Jeworrek
Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society,
No. 1,
2024
Abstract
We conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate how the location of a firm in a rural or urban region affects the perceived job attractiveness for university students and graduates and, therewith, contributes to the rural–urban divide. We characterize the attractiveness of a location based on several dimensions (social life, public infrastructure and connectivity) and vary job design and contractual characteristics of the job. We find that job offers from companies in rural areas are generally considered less attractive, regardless of the attractiveness of the region. The negative perception is particularly pronounced among persons of urban origin and singles. In contrast, for individuals with partners and kids this preference is less pronounced. High-skilled individuals who originate from rural areas have no specific regional preference at all.
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East Germany
The Nasty Gap 30 years after unification: Why East Germany is still 20% poorer than the West Dossier In a nutshell The East German economic convergence process is hardly…
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MICROPROD
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Three Research Clusters Research Cluster "Economic Dynamics and Stability" Research Questions This cluster focuses on empirical analyses of macroeconomic dynamics and stability.…
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02.10.2019 • 21/2019
Thanks to robust domestic demand, the impact of the manufacturing sector on East Germany is less severe than in the west – Implications of the Autumn 2019 Joint Economic Forecast and official regional data for the eastern German economy
In its autumn report, the Joint Economic Forecast Project Group states that the German economy has cooled further in the current year. The manufacturing sector is the main reason for the economic weakness. This affects the economy in East Germany as well.
Oliver Holtemöller
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19.09.2019 • 19/2019
Long-term effects of privatisation in eastern Germany: award-winning US economist begins large-scale research project at the IWH
It is one of the most prestigious awards in the German scientific community: the Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award 2019 endowed with €1.5 million goes to Ufuk Akcigit, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. At the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), Akcigit aims to use innovative methods to investigate why the economy in eastern Germany is still lagging behind that in western Germany – and what role the privatisation process 30 years ago played in this.
Reint E. Gropp
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Does Administrative Status Matter for Urban Growth? – Evidence from Present and Former County Capitals in East Germany
Bastian Heider, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld, Albrecht Kauffmann
Growth and Change,
No. 1,
2018
Abstract
Public sector activities are often neglected in the economic approaches used to analyze the driving forces behind urban growth. The institutional status of a regional capital is a crucial aspect of public sector activities. This paper reports on a quasi-natural experiment on county towns in East Germany. Since 1990, cities in East Germany have demonstrated remarkable differences in population development. During this same period, many towns have lost their status as a county seat due to several administrative reforms. Using a difference-in-difference approach, the annual population development of former county capitals is compared to population change in towns that have successfully held on to their capital status throughout the observed period. The estimations show that maintaining county capital status has a statistically significant positive effect on annual changes in population. This effect is furthermore increasing over time after the implementation of the respective reforms.
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20.12.2017 • 41/2017
Arbeitsleistung: Osten und Westen gleichauf
75% der erwerbsfähigen Personen in Ostdeutschland hatten 2016 dort auch einen Arbeitsplatz. In Westdeutschland waren es 81% – also sechs Prozentpunkte mehr. Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch vom Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) zeigt aber jetzt: Wenn Pendlerströme und Arbeitszeiten eingerechnet werden, liegen Osten und Westen bei der Arbeitsleistung gleichauf – und das Gefälle entsteht erstaunlicherweise zwischen Nord- und Süddeutschland.
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
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Does Administrative Status Matter for Urban Growth? Evidence from Present and Former County Capitals in East Germany
Bastian Heider, Albrecht Kauffmann, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Abstract
Public sector activities are often neglected in the economic approaches used to analyze the driving forces behind urban growth. The institutional status of a regional capital is a crucial aspect of public sector activities. This paper reports on a quasi-natural experiment on county towns in East Germany. Since 1990, cities in East Germany have demonstrated remarkable differences in population development. During this same period, many towns have lost their status as a county seat due to several administrative reforms. Using a difference-in-difference approach, the annual population development of former county capitals is compared to population change in towns that have successfully held on to their capital status throughout the observed period. The estimations show that maintaining county capital status has a statistically significant positive effect on annual changes in population. This effect is furthermore increasing over time after the implementation of the respective reforms.
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