Migration of workers and households is already on the policy agenda – and will likely rise in importance in the near future. First, armed conflicts and environmental changes (including draughts and floods) will lead to refugee movements and stark differences in development remain a strong incentive to migrate from poor to richer places. Second, there is a shortage in skilled labor in many European countries which threatens the financing of the social welfare state. Many observers believe that an important part of the solution is immigration of skilled workers. Third, there is increasing evidence for tax competition for rich households and high skilled workers. The seminar reviews recent research that covers different aspects of these questions.

Schedule

Registration

To register please send an email including your name, student number, and three preferred topics from the list below (including a rank order) to michael.kriebel@wiwi.uni-muenster.de. Slots in the course will be allocated on a first come first served basis. You can find the links to all papers in the Learnweb course. Please do not forget to register also at the examination office.

Topics

Part I: Effects of refugee immigration

• Gehrsitz, M. and Ungerer, M. (2017). Jobs, Crime, and Votes: A Short-Run Evaluation of the Refugee Crisis in German. IZA DP No. 10494.
• Borjas, G. J. and Monras, J. (2017). The labour market consequences of refugee supply shocks. Economic Policy, 32(91), 361–413.
• Becker, S. O. and Ferrara, A. (2019). Consequences of forced migration: A survey of recent findings. Labour Economics, 59, 1-16.

Part II: Effects of worker immigration

•  Dustmann, C., Frattini, T. and Preston, I. (2013). The Effect of Immigration along the Distribution of Wages. The Review of Economic Studies, 80(1), 145–173.
•  Dustmann, C., Schönberg, U. and Stuhler, J. (2016). The Impact of Immigration: Why do Studies Reach such Different Results? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(4), 31-56.
•  Dustmann, C., Schönberg, U. and Stuhler, J. (2017). Labor Supply Shocks, Native Wages, and the Adjustment of Local Employment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(1), 435–483.
• Edo, A. (2019). The Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market. Journal of Economic Surveys, 33(3),  922–948.

Part III: The welfare magnet hypothesis

• Agersnap, O., Jensen, A. and Kleven, H. (2020). The Welfare Magnet Hypothesis: Evidence from an Immigrant Welfare Scheme in Denmark. American Economic Review: Insights, 2(4), 527-42.

• Corneo, G. and Neidhöfer, G. (2021). Income redistribution and self-selection of immigrants. Journal of Public Economics, 198, 104420.

• Andersen, L. H., Dustmann, c. and Landersø, R. (2019). Lowering Welfare Benefits: Intended and Unintended Consequences for Migrants and their Families. CReAM Discussion Paper Series, CDP 05/19.

Part IV:  Skilled labor shortage and robots

• Lewis, E. (2011).  Immigration, Skill Mix, and Capital Skill Complementarity. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126(2), 1029–1069.

• Acemoglu, D. and Restrepo, P. (2017). Secular Stagnation? The Effect of Aging on Economic Growth in the Age of Automation. American Economic Review, 107(5), 174-79.

• Acemoglu, D. and Restrepo, P. (2022).  Demographics and Automation. The Review of Economic Studies, 89(1), 1–44.

• Horbach, J. and Rammer, C. (2020). Labor Shortage and Innovation. ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 20-009.

Part V:  Attracting high-skilled workers and rich households

• Schmidheiny, K. and Slotwinksi, M. (2018). Tax-induced mobility: Evidence from a foreigners' tax scheme in Switzerland. Journal of Public Economics, 167, 293-324.

•  Agrawal, D. R. and Foremny, D. (2019).Relocation of the Rich: Migration in Response to Top Tax Rate Changes from Spanish Reforms.The Review of Economics and Statistics, 101 (2), 214–232.

• Kleven, H., Landais, C., Muñoz, M. and Stantcheva, S. (2020). Taxation and Migration: Evidence and Policy Implications. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34(2), 119-42.