Internal Migration in East Germany After Reunification: Demographic and Economic Effects
Matthias Wieschemeyer
H.-G. Jeong and G. Heimpold (eds.): Economic Transition in Unified Germany and Implications for Korea. Policy References 17-13. Sejong: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy,
2017
Abstract
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Predicting the Rise of EU Right-Wing Populism in Response to Unbalanced Immigration
Marko Jusup, Dejan Kovač, Boris Podobnik, H. Eugene Stanley
Complexity,
August
2017
Abstract
Among the central tenets of globalization is the free migration of labor. Although much has been written about the benefits of globalization, little is known about its limitations and how antiglobalist sentiment can be strongly affected by high levels of immigration. Analyzing poll data from a group of EU countries affected by the recent migrant crisis, we find that over the last three years the percentage of right-wing (RW) populist voters in a given country depends on the prevalence of immigrants in this country’s population and the total immigration inflow into the entire EU. The latter is likely due to the perception that the EU functions as a supranational state in which a lack of inner borders means that “someone else’s problem” can easily become “my problem.” We find that the increase in the percentage of RW voters substantially surpasses the percentage of immigration inflow, implying that if this process continues, ongoing democratic processes will cause RW populism to prevail and globalization to rapidly decrease. We locate tipping points between the fraction of immigrants and the rise of RW populism, and we model our empirical findings using a complex network framework in which the success of globalization rests on a balance between immigration and immigrant integration.
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Immigration and the Rise of American Ingenuity
Ufuk Akcigit, John Grigsby, Tom Nicholas
American Economic Review,
No. 5,
2017
Abstract
We build on the analysis in Akcigit, Grigsby, and Nicholas (2017) by using US patent and census data to examine the relationship between immigration and innovation. We construct a measure of foreign born expertise and show that technology areas where immigrant inventors were prevalent between 1880 and 1940 experienced more patenting and citations between 1940 and 2000. The contribution of immigrant inventors to US innovation was substantial. We also show that immigrant inventors were more productive than native born inventors; however, they received significantly lower levels of labor income. The immigrant inventor wage-gap cannot be explained by differentials in productivity.
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12.04.2017 • 19/2017
Joint Economic Forecast Spring 2017: Upturn in Germany strengthens in spite of global economic risks
The German economy is already in the fifth year of a moderate upturn. According to the Gemeinschaftsdiagnose (GD, joint economic forecast) that was prepared by Germany’s five leading economic research institutes on behalf of the Federal Government, capacity utilization is gradually increasing, and aggregate production capacities are now likely to have slightly exceeded their normal utilisation levels. However, cyclical dynamics remain low compared to earlier periods of recoveries, as consumption expenditures, which do not exhibit strong fluctuations, have been the main driving force so far. In addition, net migration increases potential output, counteracting a stronger capacity tightening. “Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand by 1.5% (1.8% adjusted for calendar effects) and 1.8% in the next year. Unemployment is expected to fall to 6.1% in 2016, to 5.7% in 2017 and 5.4% in 2018”, says Oliver Holtemöller, Head of the Department Macroeconomics and vice president of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association. Inflation is expected to increase markedly over the forecast horizon. After an increase in consumer prices of only 0.5% in 2016, the inflation rate is expected to rise to 1.8% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018. The public budget surplus will reduce only modestly. Public finances are slightly stimulating economic activity in the current year and are cyclically neutral in the year ahead.
Oliver Holtemöller
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Aktuelle Trends: Große Unterschiede zwischen den Bundesländern bei der Arbeitsmarktintegration Geflüchteter
Oliver Holtemöller
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 1,
2017
Abstract
Die Integration Geflüchteter in den Arbeitsmarkt ist angesichts ihrer stark gestiegenen Anzahl eine große Herausforderung in allen Regionen Deutschlands. Es gibt allerdings große Unterschiede bezüglich des Erfolgs der Arbeitsmarktintegration zwischen den Bundesländern.
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17.11.2016 • 48/2016
Deutlicher Anstieg rechtsextremistisch motivierter Gewalttaten in Ostdeutschland auch wirtschaftlich bedenklich
Wie man die globale Migration als Chance begreifen kann, darauf gehen heute Experten und Expertinnen im Rahmen der Podiumsdiskussion „Potenziale von Zuwanderern nutzen – Verantwortung übernehmen“ an der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) ein. An der Diskussion nimmt auch Professor Dr. Oliver Holtemöller teil. Er ist Leiter der Abteilung Makroökonomik und stellvertretender Präsident des Leibniz-Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) sowie Universitätsprofessor für Volkswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere Makroökonomik an der MLU.
Oliver Holtemöller
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The European Refugee Crisis and the Natural Rate of Output
Katja Heinisch, Klaus Wohlrabe
Abstract
The European Commission follows a harmonized approach for calculating structural (potential) output for EU member states that takes into account labor as an important ingredient. This paper shows how the recent huge migrants inflow to Europe affects trend output. Due to the fact that the immigrants immediately increase the working population but effectively do not enter the labor market, we illustrate that the potential output is potentially upward biased without any corrections. Taking Germany as an example, we find that the average medium-term potential growth rate is lower if the migration flow is modeled adequately compared to results based on the unadjusted European Commission procedure.
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On the Distribution of Refugees in the EU
Oliver Holtemöller, Axel Lindner, Andreas Schmalzbauer, Götz Zeddies
Intereconomics,
No. 4,
2016
Abstract
The current situation regarding the migration of refugees can only be handled efficiently through closer international cooperation in the field of asylum policy. From an economic point of view, it would be reasonable to distribute incoming refugees among all EU countries according to a distribution key that reflects differences in the costs of integration in the individual countries. An efficient distribution would even out the marginal costs of integrating refugees. In order to reach a political agreement, the key for distributing refugees should be complemented by compensation payments that distribute the costs of integration among countries. The key for distributing refugees presented by the EU Commission takes account of appropriate factors in principle, but it is unclear in terms of detail. The compensation payments for countries that should take relatively high numbers of refugees for cost efficiency reasons should be financed by reallocating resources within the EU budget.
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Losing Work, Moving Away? Regional Mobility After Job Loss
Daniel Fackler, Lisa Rippe
Abstract
Using German survey data, we investigate the relationship between involuntary job loss and regional mobility. Our results show that job loss has a strong positive effect on the propensity to relocate. We also analyze whether the high and persistent earnings losses of displaced workers can in part be explained by limited regional mobility. Our findings do not support this conjecture as we find substantial long lasting earnings losses for both movers and stayers. In the short run, movers even face slightly higher losses, but the differences between the two groups of displaced workers are never statistically significant. This challenges whether migration is a beneficial strategy in case of involuntary job loss.
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24.02.2016 • 8/2016
Regionale Verteilung von Flüchtlingen in Deutschland
Angesichts hoher Flüchtlingszahlen und der nicht funktionsfähigen gemeinsamen europäischen Asylpolitik muss die regionale Verteilung der Flüchtlinge in Deutschland nach Einschätzung des IWH neu überdacht werden. Soziale Netzwerke und die regionale Arbeitsmarktlage sind dabei wichtige Indikatoren. Eine optimale Verteilung ist mit bürokratischen Mitteln allerdings kaum zu erreichen. Letztlich müssen Marktkräfte einen interregionalen Ausgleich unterstützen. Dafür bedarf es aber entsprechender Anreize sowohl für die Flüchtlinge als auch für die politischen Entscheidungsträger vor Ort – eine Herausforderung für Regionalpolitik und Finanzausgleich.
Oliver Holtemöller
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