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Losing Work, Moving away? Regional Mobility after Job Loss

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  • Daniel Fackler
  • Lisa Rippe

Abstract

Using German survey data, we investigate the relationship between involuntary job loss and regional mobility. Our results show that job loss has a strong positive effect on the propensity to relocate. We also analyze whether the high and persistent earnings losses of displaced workers can in part be explained by limited regional mobility. Applying an event study approach, which controls for worker fixed effects, our findings do not support this conjecture as we find substantial long lasting earnings losses for both movers and stayers. In the short run, movers even face slightly higher losses, but the differences between the two groups of displaced workers are never statistically significant. This challenges whether migration is a beneficial strategy in case of involuntary job loss.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Fackler & Lisa Rippe, 2016. "Losing Work, Moving away? Regional Mobility after Job Loss," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 861, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp861
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    Cited by:

    1. Petri Böckerman & Tuomas Kosonen & Terhi Maczulskij, 2018. "Job Displacement, Inter-Regional Mobility and Long-Term Earnings," Working Papers 323, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    2. Maczulskij, Terhi & Böckerman, Petri, 2019. "Losing a Job and (Dis)incentives to Move," ETLA Working Papers 75, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    3. Kangoh Lee, 2018. "Fixed‐Rate Mortgages, Labor Markets, and Efficiency," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(5), pages 1033-1072, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job displacement; plant closure; regional mobility; earnings; SOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

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