Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2018, 66(6), 1497-1508 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201866061497

The Role of Migration as Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis and EMU

Peter Huber
Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) and Ekonomikos Fakultetas, Vilniaus Universitetas, Arsenal, Objekt 20, 1030 Wien, Austria

Using ELFS data from 2004 to 2014 we analyse labour migration as an adjustment mechanism to asymmetric regional labour demand shocks shortly before, during and after the Great Recession in the EU. The results suggest that in this period migration was rather responsive to regional economic conditions, but also point to a substantial heterogeneity across demographic groups, periods and country groups. The mobility of high-skilled persons and foreign born contributed much more strongly to the adjustment of labour markets than the migration of less-skilled and natives. Furthermore, among the large integration steps from 2004 to 2014 (i.e., the accession of 12 countries to the EU and the successive liberalisation of immigration from the countries joining the EU after 2004 and Euro accession) mainly the EU-enlargements worked to improve the adjustment capability of European labour markets through migration.

Keywords: labour market adjustment, migration, EU-enlargement
Grants and funding:

This research was funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity 'Improvement of researchers' qualification by implementing world-class R and D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712.

Published: December 19, 2018  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Huber, P. (2018). The Role of Migration as Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis and EMU. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 66(6), 1497-1508. doi: 10.11118/actaun201866061497
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. AMUEDO-DORANTES, C. and DE LA RICA, S. 2005. Immigrants' Responsiveness to Labour Market Conditions and Its Implications on Regional Disparities: Evidence from Spain. IZA Discussion Papers 1557. Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA). Go to original source...
    2. ARPAIA, A. et al. 2014. European Economy: Labour Mobility and Labour Market Adjustment in the EU. Economic Papers 539. Brussels: European commission.
    3. ASLUND, O. 2005. Now and forever? Initial and subsequent location choices of immigrants. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 35: 141-165. DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2004.02.001 Go to original source...
    4. BARTIK, T. J. 1991. Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies? Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute.
    5. BENTOLILA, S. and JIMENO, J. F. 1998. Regional unemployment persistence Spain, 1976 - 94. Labour Economics, 5(1): 25-51. Go to original source...
    6. BEYER, R. C. M. and SMETS, F. 2015. Labour market adjustments in Europe and the US: How different? European Central Bank Working Paper Series No. 1767. European Central Bank. Go to original source...
    7. BLANCHARD, O. and KATZ, L. F. 1992. Regional evolutions. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1: 1-75. DOI: 10.2307/2534556 Go to original source...
    8. BOERSMA, L. and VAN DIJK, J. 2002. Regional Labour Market Dynamics in the Netherlands. Papers in Regional Science, 81(3): 343-364. DOI: 10.1007/s101100200126 Go to original source...
    9. BORJAS, G. J. 2001. Does Immigration Grease the Wheels of the Labour Market? Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 32(1): 69-134. DOI: 10.1353/eca.2001.0011 Go to original source...
    10. BRAKMAN, S., GARRETSEN, H., and VAN MARREWIJK, C. 2015. Regional resilience across Europe: on urbanisation and the initial impact of the Great Recession. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 8(2): 225-240. DOI: 10.1093/cjres/rsv005 Go to original source...
    11. CANDEA, B. C. and KOVAK, B. N. 2016. Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labour Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession. American Economic Journal, Applied Economics, 8(1): 257-290. Go to original source...
    12. CRESCENZI, R., DAVIDE, L. and MILIO, S. 2016. The geography of the economic crisis in Europe: national macroeconomic conditions, regional structural factors and short-term economic performance. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 9(1): 13-32. DOI: 10.1093/cjres/rsv031 Go to original source...
    13. DAO, M., FURCERI, D. and LOUNGAMI, P. 2014. Regional Labour market Adjustment in the United States and Europe. IMF Working Paper WP 14/26. International Monetary Fund. Go to original source...
    14. DECRESSIN, J. and FATAS, A. 1995. Regional Labour Market Dynamics in Europe. European Economic Review, 39(9): 1627-1655. DOI: 10.1016/0014-2921(94)00102-2 Go to original source...
    15. DELAIGLE, S. and LOHEST, O. 1999. Regional Labour Market Dynamics: Evaluation and Application to Belgium. Louvain-la-Neuve: Universite catholique de Louvain.
    16. FATAS, A. 2000. Intranational Labour Migration Business Cycles and Growth. In: HESS, G. D. and VAN WINCOOP, E. Intranational Macroeconomics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    17. FINGLETON, B., GARRETSEN, H. and MARTIN, R. 2012. Recessionary Shocks and Regional Employment: Evidence on the Resilience of UK Regions. Journal of Regional Science, 52(1): 109-133. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9787.2011.00755.x Go to original source...
    18. FRATESI, U. and RODRÍGUEZ-POSE, A. 2016. The crisis and regional employment in Europe: what role for sheltered economies? Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 9(1): 33-57. DOI: 10.1093/cjres/rsv032 Go to original source...
    19. FREDRIKSON, P. 1998. The Dynamics of Regional Labour Markets and Active Labour Market Policy: Swedish Evidence. Manuscript. University of Upsala.
    20. GACS, V. and HUBER, P. 2005. Quantity Adjustments in the Regional Labour Markets of EU Candidate Countries. Papers in Regional Science, 84(4): 542-558. DOI: 10.1111/j.1435-5957.2005.00044.x Go to original source...
    21. HUBER, P. and TONDL, G. 2012. Migration and Regional Convergence in the European Union. Empirica, 39(4): 439-460. DOI: 10.1007/s10663-012-9199-2 Go to original source...
    22. JANIAK, A. and WASMER, E. 2008. European Economy: Mobility in Europe Why it is low, the bottlenecks and policy solutions. Economic Papers 340. Brussels: European Commission DG-Economic and Financial Affairs.
    23. JAUER, J., LIEBIG, T., MARTIN, J. P., and PUHANI, P. 2014. Migration as an Adjustment Mechanism in the Crisis? A Comparison of Europe and the United States. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 155. OECD. Go to original source...
    24. L'ANGEVIN, C. 2007. Labour Market Dynamics and Labour Mobility within the Euro Area. Documents de Travail de la DGTPE 2007/06. DGTPE.
    25. LALL, S. V., SELOD, H. and ZMARAK, S. 2006. Rural-urban migration in developing countries: a survey of theoretical predictions and empirical findings. Policy Research Working Paper Series 3915. The World Bank. Go to original source...
    26. MAS, M., KANGASNIEMI, M., SERRANO, L. and ROBINSON, C. 2008. The Economic Impact of Migration - Productivity Analysis for Spain and the UK. EUKLEMS Working Paper 30.
    27. MOLLOY, R., SMITH, C. L. and WOZNIAK, A. 2011. Internal Migration in the United States. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25(3): 173-96. DOI: 10.1257/jep.25.3.173 Go to original source...
    28. QUISPE-AGNOLI, M. and ZAVODNY, M. 2002. The effect of immigration on output mix, capital,and productivity, Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Q1, 17-27.
    29. PEKKALA, S. and KANGASHARJU, A. 2002. Regional Labour Markets in Finland: Adjustment to total versus region specific shocks. Papers in Regional Science, 81(3): 329-342. DOI: 10.1007/s101100200127 Go to original source...
    30. RØED, M. and SCHØNE, P. 2007. Does immigration increase labour market flexibility? Labour Economics, 19(4): 527-540. DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2012.05.008 Go to original source...
    31. SCHÜNDELN, M. 2007. Are Immigrants More Mobile Than Natives? Evidence from Germany. IZA DP, No. 3226. Institute for the Study of Labour. Go to original source...
    32. WORLD BANK. 2009. World Development Report 2009: Reshaping the Economic Geography. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
    33. WOZNIAK, A. 2010. Are College Graduates More Responsive to Distant Labour Market Opportunities? Journal of Human Resources, 45(4):944-970. DOI: 10.1353/jhr.2010.0030 Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content