Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung

Epainos Prize for Wolfgang Dauth

Wolfgang Dauth, who is part of the IAB Graduate Programme and works for the Research Department "Regional Labour Markets", has been awarded the Epainos Prize at the annual conference of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA). The prize was conferred by ERSA for the best piece of work by a young scientist (under 33 years of age). Mr Dauth had already received a prize from the Spatial Econometrics Association at the annual conference in Chicago for the best paper by a young econometrician.

In the winning paper, entitled "The Mysteries of the Trade: Interindustry Spillovers in Cities" (IAB-Discussion Paper 15/2010), Mr Dauth deals with the effects of the interaction faced by individual establishments when they are located in the same city. Using modern processes of spatial econometrics he constructs a model of the relationships between different sectors in order to examine which theoretical approaches are relevant in explaining so-called agglomeration advantages and which sectors profit to a special degree from mutual proximity. The job market effects are particularly positive when individual businesses supply other ones, when they employ staff of a similar qualification level, and when there is an exchange of know-how and innovations.

With over 1,000 participants, the ERSA Conference 2010 in Jönköping (Sweden) was the largest conference on regional science that has ever taken place. A highlight was the panel discussion with M. Fujita, A. Venables and the Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman.