Are Immigrants More Mobile Than Natives?: Evidence from Germany / Institute for the Study of Labor, December 2007
PDF - http://ftp.iza.org/dp3226.pdf
Matthias Schündeln
IZA Discussion Paper No. 3226
"Low rates of internal migration in many European countries contribute to the persistence of significant regional labour market differences. To further our understanding of the underlying reasons I study internal migration in Germany. I find significantly higher responsiveness to labor market differentials in the immigrant population than in the native population. Unobserved moving costs for immigrants are estimated to be only about 37% of this same cost for natives. The findings bear on the assessment of the economic impact of immigration, and the paper contributes to the current immigration-related policy debates that feature prominently in many European countries, and that likely will continue to be important in light of the ongoing EU expansion and the expected resulting east-west migration."