Workplace Connections and Labor Migration

Michelle Hansch, Jan Nimczik and Alexandra Spitz-Oener

No 2577, RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin)

Abstract: We examine how former coworkers influence migration decisions following major labor market shocks, using the quasi-experimental setting of German reunification. Displaced East German workers are more likely to move to West Germany if they have former coworkers from the German Democratic Republic already there. Migration is strategic: workers move when their labor market prospects align with those of their contacts already in the West, and those contacts have positive labor market experiences. An extended Roy model rationalizes these findings, suggesting that migration is driven by relevant, job-specific information rather than social support from contacts.

Keywords: Internal Migration; Workplace Networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 J61 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-09
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25077.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:crm:wpaper:2577

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Moritz Lubczyk () and Matthew Nibloe ().