Read more
Neither empirical data nor economic theory give a clear indication of how regional disparities develop and which political measures are adequate to reduce them. This holds particularly true for Germany, where the unification between West and East Germany in 1990 amplified regional unemployment disparities tremendously. Against this background, Marcus Kunz addresses three key questions:
1. Do unemployment rates across districts and regions converge or diverge within Germany?
2. How do districts and regions adjust in the aftermath of a regional labour market shock?
3. What are the reasons for the regional unemployment disparities observed in western Germany?
As opposed to previous studies about unemployment disparities within Germany which only focused on the larger regional level, Kunz' study provides a more precise empirical picture by focusing on development at the small district level where disparities are especially large.
List of contents
Figures
Tables
Danksagung
1 Introduction
2 Theory and empirics of regional adjustment
2.1 Geographical economics
2.2 An alternative labour market model of regional adjustment
2.3 Conclusions from existing empirical work
3 Disparities, persistence and dynamics of regional unemployment rates in Germany - an univariate analysis
3.1 Theories of unemployment disparities
3.2 Regional data and methodological issues
3.3 A measure of relative unemployment
3.4 Disparities and persistence of unemployment rates
3.5 Unemployment dynamics
3.6 Conclusions of univariate models
4 Unemployment dynamics in West Germany - a simultaneous approach
4.1 A framework for regional evolutions
4.2 Regional Data
4.3 Migration and commuting activities in Germany
4.4 Empirical framework and district-specific data
4.5 Regional adjustment dynamics
4.6 Conclusions of simultaneous models
5 Sources for regional unemployment disparities in Germany - a hybrid model
5.1 The chain reaction theory of unemployment
5.2 National and regional data
5.3 Stationarity of national and regional variables
5.4 Results
5.5 Conclusions from the chain reaction theory
6 Conclusion
References
Appendix
Abstract
Kurzfassung
