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Job Creation in Tight and Slack Labor Markets

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  • Buchheim, Lukas

    (LMU Munich)

  • Watzinger, Martin

    (LMU Munich)

  • Wilhelm, Matthias

    (LMU Munich)

Abstract

Do investment programs create more jobs in tight or in slack labor markets? We study this question using data from a large, long-term photovoltaic investment scheme in Germany. Comparing counties with high and low unemployment both over time and across space, we find that photovoltaic installations created at least twice as many jobs in slack than in tight labor markets. Our results suggest that the differences in job-creation are not driven by changes in the composition or prices of investment, capital-labor substitution, or regional migration. This leaves crowding-out as the most plausible mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Buchheim, Lukas & Watzinger, Martin & Wilhelm, Matthias, 2019. "Job Creation in Tight and Slack Labor Markets," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 144, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    • Handle: RePEc:rco:dpaper:144
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    Cited by:

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    3. Ana Maria Montoya Gómez, 2020. "From Fossil Fuels to Renewables: Studies on the Effects of Resource Endowments and Climate Policy on Economic Outcomes," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 90.
    4. Kanazawa, Nobuyuki, 2021. "Public investment multipliers: Evidence from stock returns of the road pavement industry in Japan," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    local employment multiplier; state-dependent multiplier;

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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