Forced Migration and Mortality

Thomas Bauer (), Matthias Giesecke and Laura Janisch ()
Additional contact information
Laura Janisch: RWI

No 11116, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We examine the long-run effects of forced migration from Eastern Europe into post-war Germany. Existing evidence suggests that displaced individuals are worse off economically, facing a considerably lower income and a higher unemployment risk than comparable natives even twenty years after being expelled. We extend this literature by investigating the relative performance of forced migrants across the entire life cycle. Using social security records that document the exact date of death and a proxy for pre-retirement lifetime earnings, we estimate a significantly and considerably higher mortality risk among forced migrants compared to native West-Germans. The adverse displacement effect persists throughout the earnings distribution except for the top quintile. Although forced migrants are generally worse off regarding mortality outcomes, those with successful labor market histories seem to overcome the long-lasting negative consequences of flight and expulsion.

Keywords: economic history; forced migration; differential mortality; lifetime earnings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J61 O15 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2017-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-lab, nep-mig and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Forthcoming - published as 'The Impact of Forced Migration on Mortality: Evidence from German Pension Insurance Records' in: Demography, 2019, 56(1), 25-47

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Related works:
Working Paper: Forced Migration and Mortality (2017)
Working Paper: Forced migration and mortality (2017)
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