Seminar «The (Un)Intended Effects of Promoting Labor Market Mobility»

IOS-IZA-HSE University International Labor Seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 16:00 (MSK, GMT+3).

Speaker: Marco Caliendo (University of Potsdam, IZA, DIW, IAB)

Title: The (Un)Intended Effects of Promoting Labor Market Mobility

Subsidizing the geographical mobility of unemployed workers may improve welfare by relaxing their financial constraints and allowing them to find jobs in more prosperous regions. We exploit regional variation in the promotion of mobility programs along administrative borders of German employment agency districts to investigate the causal effect of offering such financial incentives on the job search behavior and labor market integration of unemployed workers. We show that promoting mobility – as intended – causes job seekers to increase their search radius, apply for and accept distant jobs. At the same time, local job search is reduced with adverse consequences for reemployment and earnings. These unintended negative effects are provoked by spatial search frictions. Overall, the unconditional provision of mobility programs harms the welfare of unemployed job seekers. Co-authors: Steffen Kunn„ and Robert Mahlstedt.

Working language is English.

Seminar will be online via Zoom
The link to join Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81952524388
Meeting ID: 819 5252 4388
Passcode: 205502


If you have questions please contact Liliya Gubaidullina ( lgubajdullina@hse.ru ).