Regional Labour Markets
Department
Research Department B2
Research task
The disparities that can be observed in regional labour markets are distinct and of a permanent nature. There is a marked gradient between the eastern and the western part of Germany as regards both levels of unemployment and wages. However, even within these parts of the country themselves considerable divergences exist. For example, in the western part of Germany some regions are characterized by a deep-seated crisis in the labour market whereas others enjoy almost full-scale employment.
IAB set up the Research Department "Regional Labour Markets" as well as the "Regional Research Network" in order to attempt to explain these disparities and to understand how regional labour markets develop. By conducting small-scale analysis, results emerge that are at the same time of relevance to both the macroeconomic context and the social context and which can serve the requirements of the Federal Employment Agency and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs as regards policy advice on regional issues.
The key questions facing the "Regional Labour Markets" Research Department are the following: What do the differences between the regional labour markets consist of? What has triggered these differences, and how do they develop? What form do interrelations between the individual regions take, and what effect do they have? In what way, and why, do the effects of uniform institutional framework conditions differ in the way they affect different regions, and what influence do labour market and employment policies have on regional labour markets? How can regional mobility be explained, and what effects does the setting up of individual establishments elicit locally?
The interdisciplinary theoretical basis of the Research Department ranges from classical theories on location to the new regional economy (Neue Regionalökonomie). What is particularly interesting and demanding - from the point of view of methodology - is the connection between labour market actors and their regional social/economic environments. Here methods of multi-level analysis and spatial econometrics are used.
It is an important task of the Research Department to offer the headquarters of the Federal Employment Agency and the Regional Directorates advice with regard to benchmarking and controlling. To this end, we carry out regular categorization of the agency districts in an attempt to produce an adequate comparison of the impacts of labour market policy instruments against the backdrop of high levels of heterogeneity.
The IAB had actually assembled a working group on regional research long before the field was established as a separate Research Department in 2004, at a time when the increased need for research and for policy advice was gradually being recognized. Since it was set up, the work of the department has been led by Professor Uwe Blien. Where its programme and communal projects are concerned, the department is very closely linked to IAB's Regional Research Network; from an organizational point of view however, its close link is to the Regional Office also located at IAB headquarters and responsible for all the regions.
Projects
Projects of department
Staff members
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