Migration and the Wage Curve: A Structural Approach to Measure the Wage and Employment Effects of Migration

Herbert Brücker () and Elke Jahn

No 3423, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Based on a wage curve approach we examine the labor market effects of migration in Germany. The wage curve relies on the assumption that wages respond to a change in the unemployment rate, albeit imperfectly. This allows one to derive the wage and employment effects of migration simultaneously in a general equilibrium framework. For the empirical analysis we employ the IABS, a two percent sample of the German labor force. We find that the elasticity of the wage curve is particularly high for young workers and workers with a university degree, while it is low for older workers and workers with a vocational degree. The wage and employment effects of migration are moderate: a 1 percent increase in the German labor force through immigration increases the aggregate unemployment rate by less than 0.1 percentage points and reduces average wages by less 0.1 percent. While native workers benefit from increased wages and lower unemployment, foreign workers are adversely affected.

Keywords: labor demand; wage curve; panel data; migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J31 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2008-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Published - revised version published as 'Migration and Wage-Setting: Reassessing the Labor Market Effects of Migration' in: Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2011, 113 (2), 286-317

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