The evolution of regional labor market disparities

Danksagung
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction
1.1 Motivation
1.2 Structure of the thesis
2 What do we know about the evolution of regional labor market disparities?
2.1 The evolution of regional labor market disparities: Convergence or divergence?
2.1.1 Cross-sectional approaches to convergence
2.1.2 Time series approaches to convergence
2.1.3 Convergence or divergence?
2.2 Adjustment to shocks
2.2.1 Measures for relative regional variables
2.2.2 Theoretical framework
2.2.3 Autoregressive processes and impulse response analysis..
2.2.4 The empirical framework by Blanchard/Katz (1992)
2.2.5 The role of wages in the adjustment process
2.2.6 Further enhancement of the classical approach
2.2.7 When will things return to normal after a regional labor
demand shock?
3 New insights into the evolution of regional unemployment disparities in Germany
3.1 Trends in German regional unemployment
3.2 The evolution of regional unemployment disparities
3.3 The definition of stochastic convergence
3.4 Testing for cross-sectional dependence
3.4.1 Two tests for cross-sectional dependence
3.4.2 Results
3.5 Testing the hypothesis of stochastic convergence
3.5.1 Modeling cross-sectional dependence via approximate factors
3.5.2 Testing for a unit root
3.5.3 Results
3.6 Conclusion
4 Convergence analysis for heterogeneous employment groups
4.1 Data and definitions
4.2 The evolution of skill-specific employment in West Germany
4.3 Recent trends in regional employment disparities
4.4 Stochastic convergence and cross-sectional dependence
4.4.1 Structures and restrictions imposed by the definition of stochastic convergence
4.4.2 Testing stochastic convergence as a second generation panel unit root test
4.5 Convergence or divergence of regional employment rates?
4.6 Conclusion
5 Regional labor market dynamics after a labor demand shock
5.1 Empirical framework
5.1.1 Basic principles of the empirical framework
5.1.2 Specification of the PVAR
5.1.3 Impulse response analysis
5.1.4 Estimation strategy
5.2 Data and some stylized facts
5.2.1 Data source and definitions
5.2.2 Stylized facts
5.2.3 Labor mobility in Germany
5.2.4 Measurement of relative regional variables
5.3 Results
5.3.1 The classical approach revisited
5.3.2 The role of labor mobility for the adjustment process
5.3.3 The role of the wage feedback in the adjustment process
5.3.4 Region labor market dynamics in Germany
5.4 Conclusion
6 What are the new insights into the evolution of regional labor market disparities?
Appendix
A.1 Appendix: Figures
A.2 Appendix: Regression results
References
Abstract
Kurzfassung