Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP1512
Authors: Thomas Bauer; Klaus F. Zimmermann
Abstract: This paper uses the immigration sample of the German Socioeconomic Panel to analyse the earnings and unemployment assimilation of ethnic Germans who entered West Germany within the last ten years. The empirical analysis suggests that there is no earnings differential between immigrants from Eastern Europe and comparable East Germans at the time of immigration. With longer time of residence the earnings of former East Europeans rise faster than those of East Germans, however. Migrants from Poland and the former USSR have higher unemployment risks than those from East Germany or Romania. Ethnic networks are shown to be very useful for a successful integration into the labour market.
Keywords: immigration of ethnic germans; earnings assimilation; unemployment
JEL Codes: J31; J61; J64
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| foreign schooling degrees acceptance (I29) | reservation wages (R21) |
| foreign schooling degrees acceptance (I29) | unemployment risk (J65) |
| duration of residence in Germany (C41) | earnings assimilation (J31) |
| years since migration + status of being an aussiedler (F22) | earnings (J31) |
| duration of residence in Germany (C41) | unemployment risk (J65) |
| country of origin (O57) | unemployment risk (J65) |