Employment, wage structure, and the economic cycle: differences between immigrants and natives in Germany and the UK

Differences in the cyclical pattern of employment and wages of immigrants relative to natives have largely gone unnoticed in the migration literature. In this paper we show that immigrants and natives react differently to the economic cycle. Based on over two decades of micro data, our investigation is for two of the largest immigrant receiving countries in Europe which at the same time are characterised by different immigrant populations as well as different economic cycles, Germany and the UK. Understanding the magnitude, nature and possible causes of differences in responses is relevant for assessing the economic performance of immigrant communities over time. We show that there are substantial differences in cyclical responses between immigrants and natives. Our analysis illustrates the magnitude of these differences, while distinguishing between different groups of immigrants. Differences in responses may be due to differences in the skill distribution between immigrant groups and natives, or differences in demand for immigrants and natives of the same skills due to differential allocation of immigrants and natives across industries and regions. We demonstrate that substantial differences in cyclical patterns remain, even within narrowly defined groups. Finally, we estimate a more structural factor type model that, using regional variation in economic conditions, separates responses to economic shocks from a secular trend and allows us to obtain a summary measure for these differences within education groups

The labour market impact of immigration: quasi-experimental evidence

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, ethnic Germans living in the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries were given the chance to migrate to Germany. Within 15 years, 2.8 million individuals moved. Upon arrival, these immigrants were exogenously allocated to different regions by the administration in order to ensure an even distribution across the country. Their inflows can therefore be seen as a natural experiment of immigration, avoiding the typical endogeneity problem of immigrant inflows with regard to local labour market conditions. I analyse the effect of these exogenous inflows on relative skill-specific employment and wage rates of the resident population in different geographical areas between 1996 and 2001. The variation I exploit in the empirical estimations arises primarily from differences in the initial skill composition across regions. Skill groups are defined either based on occupations or educational attainment. For both skill definitions, my results indicate a displacement effect of around 4 unemployed resident workers for every 10 immigrants that find a job. I do not find evidence of any detrimental effect on relative wages

The labour market impact and performance of immigrants.

In many countries, the extent to which immigration affects the labour market of the host economy is one of the key concerns in the public debate on immigration policies. Chapter 2 of this thesis provides a thorough review of the economic literature on the labour market impact of immigration and summarises the current empirical evidence. Chapter 3 investigates the impact of immigrants on the German labour market during the 1990s. This analysis takes advantage of a natural experiment in which a particular group of immigrants was exogenously allocated to specific regions across the country by the government. The empirical analysis focuses on the effect of these exogenous inflows on relative skill-specific employment and wage rates of the resident population. Chapter 4 of the thesis investigates how industries and firms respond to a change in the skill mix of local labour supply induced by an inflow of immigrants. One way to absorb these changes is an expansion in size of those industries and firms that use the corresponding skill group most intensively. Alternatively, in dustries and firms can adjust their production process and switch to a technology that uses the corresponding skill group more intensively. Based on German micro data, the analysis assesses which of these channels is dominant and quantifies their relative contributions. One of the key assumptions in many impact analyses is that natives and immigrants of the same observable skill level are perfect substitutes in the labour market and are thus equally affected by aggregate economic shocks. Chapter 5 of the thesis tests this assumption by analysing the way different immigrant groups in Germany and the UK respond to the economic cycle relative to comparable native workers

How Do Industries and Firms Respond to Changes in Local Labor Supply?

This paper analyzes how changes in the skill mix of local labor supply are absorbed by the economy, distinguishing between three adjustment mechanisms: wages, expansion in size of those production units using the more abundant skill group more intensively, and more intensive use of the more abundant skill group within production units. We contribute to the literature by analyzing these adjustments on the firm rather than industry level, using German administrative data. We show that most adjustments occur within firms through changes in relative factor intensities and that firms entering and exiting the market are an important additional absorption mechanis

Referral-based Job Search Networks

This article derives novel testable implications of referral-based job search networks in which employees provide employers with information about potential new hires that they otherwise would not have. Using comprehensive matched employer–employee data covering the entire workforce in one large metropolitan labour market combined with unique survey data linked to administrative records, we provide evidence that workers earn higher wages and are less inclined to leave their firms if they have obtained their job through a referral. These effects are particularly strong at the beginning of the employment relationship and decline with tenure in the firm, suggesting that firms and workers learn about workers' productivity over time. Overall, our findings imply that job search networks help to reduce informational deficiencies in the labour market and lead to productivity gains for workers and firms

Efeito do pisoteio animal acumulativo e da fenação nos parâmetros físicos do solo em área com sobressemeadura de misturas forrageiras de estação fria em pastagem de Tifton.

Os sistemas de manejo do solo e de pastagem implicam em mudanças nas propriedades físicas do solo a curto, médio e longo prazo, as quais podem ou não ser restritivas ao desenvolvimento do sistema radicular. Objetivou-se, a avaliação de parâmetros físicos do solo em pastagens de tifton 85 sobressemeado com espécies forrageiras de estação fria, em área pastejada no inverno e na primavera e destinadas a produção de feno no verão. O experimento foi conduzido no Instituto Regional de Desenvolvimento Rural (IRDeR). O experimento foi disposto na forma de blocos ao acaso, com arranjo fatorial triplo (2x3x4) constituído de 2 sistemas de manejo (com e sem pastejo), 3 consórcios (aveia preta + ervilhaca, aveia preta + trevo vesiculoso e aveia preta) e quatro camadas de profundidade, com três repetições. Foram coletadas amostras de solo em quatro camadas de profundidade do solo (0-0,05, 0,05- 0,10, 0,10-0,15, 0,15-0,20 m), em todos os tratamentos, para determinação da umidade gravimétrica, densidade de partícula e densidade do solo. A umidade volumétrica, porosidade total, espaço aéreo e o grau de saturação foram calculados. Não ocorreu diferença na porosidade total nas áreas com e sem pastejo, já para o espaço aéreo, houve diferença entre as mesmas. A área com pastejo apresentou maior espaço aéreo. A densidade de partícula foi menor na camada superficial do solo. A aveia preta proporcionou uma maior umidade gravimétrica na área de exclusão de pastejo. Os valores de densidade do solo e de espaço aéreo não são restritivos ao crescimento radicular em ambas as áreas

Synthesis, characterization and photoinduced CO-release by manganese(i) complexes

Herein, we report the CO-release activity of three new photoCORMs, two with nonbonding pyridine moieties and one with a benzyl group. The compounds [MnBr(CO)3(bpa-κ2)] (2, where bpa = N-benzyl(2-pyridylmethyl)amine); [MnBr(CO)3(pmpeaκ2)] (3, where pmpea = N-(2-pyridylmethyl)-N’-(2-pyridylethyl)amine) and [MnBr(CO)3(bpea-κ2)] (4, where bpea = N-bis(2- pyridylethyl)amine) were synthesized and characterized by common spectroscopic techniques (UV-Vis, IR). Density functional theory studies were also performed to provide new insights into the M–C bond and to assume the orbitals involved in the absorption transitions. Their CO-release activities were measured both in organic and in physiological media and compared to that of a previously published compound [Mn(CO)3(dpa-κ3)]Br (1, where dpa = N-bis(2- pyridylmethyl)amine). An increase in the number of members of the chelate from five to six, influenced the release of CO, affecting both the binding mode of the ligand and the CO-release process and affecting their potential use as potentials CO release carriers as therapeutic agents

Determinants and consequences of international migration

This chapter provides a simple overview of the canonical model of international migration, discusses the consequences of migration on both sending and receiving countries and draws some considerations on future research prospects for the international migration literature