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New publication in Empirica  [17.02.23]

Timo Walter uses a new dynamic quantitative model to assess the welfare consequences of the Hartz IV reforms and the rise of the Eastern European countries

In this paper, Timo Walter investigates the impact of the German labor market reform (Hartz IV) on the German labor market at the German county level (“Kreisebene”). For his analysis, he builds on the new spatial multi-country and multi-sector equilibrium model a la Caliendo et al. (2019).

He finds that without the labor market reform (Hartz IV) the German short-term unemployment would have been 0.4 percentage points larger. This is equivalent to a 385,000 decrease in the number of unemployed and explains a 25% decrease in unemployment between 2005 and 2014. The rise of the East has had an additional positive effect on the labor market.

The paper is published in Empirica and available at (open access): https://rdcu.be/c5OcI

The paper was prepared while Timo pursued his PhD under the supervision of Benjamin Jung. Thomas Beißinger served as a second supervisor of the PhD thesis.


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