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Migration as an Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis? A Comparison of Europe and the United States
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Migration as an Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis? A Comparison of Europe and the United States

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  • Jauer, Julia
  • Liebig, Thomas
  • Martin, John P.
  • Puhani, Patrick A.

Abstract

The question of whether migration can be an equilibrating force in the labour market is an important criterion for an optimal currency area. It is of particular interest currently in the context of high and rising levels of labour market disparities, in particular within the Eurozone where there is no exchange-rate mechanism available to play this role. We shed some new light on this question by comparing pre- and post-crisis migration movements at the regional level in both Europe and the United States, and their association with asymmetric labour market shocks. We find that recent migration flows have reacted quite significantly to the EU enlargements in 2004 and 2007 and to changes in labour market conditions, particularly in Europe. Indeed, in contrast to the pre-crisis situation and the findings of previous empirical studies, there is tentative evidence that the migration response to the crisis has been considerable in Europe, in contrast to the United States where the crisis and subsequent sluggish recovery were not accompanied by greater interregional labour mobility in reaction to labour market shocks. Our estimates suggest that, if all measured population changes in Europe were due to migration for employment purposes – i.e. an upper-bound estimate – up to about a quarter of the asymmetric labour market shock would be absorbed by migration within a year. However, in the Eurozone the reaction mainly stems from migration of third-country nationals. Even within the group of Eurozone nationals, a significant part of the free mobility stems from immigrants from third countries who have taken on the nationality of their Eurozone host country.

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  • Jauer, Julia & Liebig, Thomas & Martin, John P. & Puhani, Patrick A., 2014. "Migration as an Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis? A Comparison of Europe and the United States," Economics Working Paper Series 1432, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:econwp:2014:32
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    Cited by:

    1. Alfonso Arpaia & Aron Kiss & Balazs Palvolgyi & Alessandro Turrini, 2016. "Labour mobility and labour market adjustment in the EU," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Jan Stráský, 2016. "Priorities for completing the European Union's Single Market," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1315, OECD Publishing.
    3. Julia Jauer & Thomas Liebig & John P. Martin & Patrick A. Puhani, 2019. "Migration as an adjustment mechanism in the crisis? A comparison of Europe and the United States 2006–2016," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Berger, Johannes & Strohner, Ludwig, 2022. "Can labour mobility reduce imbalances in the euro area?," Research Papers 20, EcoAustria – Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Florence Huart & Médédé Tchakpalla, 2019. "Labor Market Conditions and Geographic Mobility in the Eurozone," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(2), pages 263-284, June.
    6. Joshua Aizenman, 2014. "The Eurocrisis: Muddling Through, or On the Way to a More Perfect Euro Union?," NBER Working Papers 20242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Christopher L. House & Christian Proebsting & Linda L. Tesar, 2018. "Quantifying the Benefits of Labor Mobility in a Currency Union," NBER Working Papers 25347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Colombo, Emilio & Stanca, Luca, 2014. "Measuring the monetary value of social relations: A hedonic approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 77-87.
    9. repec:prg:jnlcfu:v:2021:y:2021:i:2:id:561 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Peter Huber, 2018. "The Role of Migration as Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis and EMU," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 66(6), pages 1497-1508.
    11. Timo Mitze, 2019. "The migration response to local labour market shocks: Evidence from EU regions during the global economic crisis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 81(2), pages 271-298, April.
    12. Aparicio Fenoll, Ainoa & Kuehn, Zoë, 2016. "Education Policies and Migration across European Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 9755, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Enrico Marelli & Laura Resmini & Marcello Signorelli, 2014. "The Effects Of Inward Fdi On Regional Employment In Europe," Romanian Journal of Regional Science, Romanian Regional Science Association, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, JUNE.
    14. Giovannini, Alessandro & Ioannou, Demosthenes & Stracca, Livio, 2022. "Public and private risk sharing: friends or foes? The interplay between different forms of risk sharing," Occasional Paper Series 295, European Central Bank.
    15. Vlassis Missos & Nikolaos Rodousakis & George Soklis, 2022. "On Measuring the Impact of Internal Devaluation in Greece: Poverty, Flexibility, Migration and Growthless Employment," World, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-14, May.
    16. Harald Oberhofer & Christian Glocker & Werner Hölzl & Peter Huber & Serguei Kaniovski & Klaus Nowotny & Michael Pfaffermayr & Monique Ebell & Nikolaos Kontogiannis, 2016. "Single Market Transmission Mechanisms Before, During and After the 2008-09 Crisis. A Quantitative Assessment," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 59156.
    17. Christopher House & Christian Proebsting & Linda Tesar, 2018. "The Benefits of Labor Mobility in a Currency Union," 2018 Meeting Papers 876, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    18. Hinte, Holger & Rinne, Ulf, 2017. "Fachkräfte gewinnen - Konzept für eine aktive deutsche Zuwanderungspolitik," IZA Research Reports 77, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Clemens, Marius, 2016. "Migration, Unemployment and the Business Cycle - A Euro Area Perspective," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145578, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    20. Nadia Granato & Anette Haas & Silke Hamann & Annekatrin Niebuhr, 2015. "The Impact Of Skill‐Specific Migration On Regional Unemployment Disparities In Germany," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 513-539, September.
    21. Giorgio Liotti & Salvatore Villani, 2014. "The equalising power of internal immigration and the desertification process of southern Italy," STUDI ECONOMICI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(114), pages 51-77.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Free mobility; migration; economic crisis; labour market adjustment; Eurozone; Europe; United States;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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