This paper estimates the impact of nursing shortages in hospitals on healthcare provision and patient outcomes by exploiting a strong and stable appreciation of the Swiss franc in 2011. Due to collective bargaining hindering wage adjustments in the German healthcare sector, cross-border wage...

This paper examines how municipal taxes respond to the local impact of a labor market shock. The analysis exploits a commuting policy that liberalized cross-border labor markets between Switzerland and the EU. The reform was implemented at a time of skilled labor shortages and led to a...

We investigate the causal relationship between inventor migration and regional innovation in the context of the large-scale migration shock from East to West Germany between World War II and the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Leveraging a newly constructed, century-spanning dataset on...

Migration can stimulate economic growth when managed strategically. Heterogeneous impacts require targeted and redistributive policies. Narratives of migration as purely a supply-side issue are overly reductive. Migration can serve as a deficit-financing alternative to tax hikes or spending...

The labour market integration of migrants is a heavily politicised topic in Europe. Using detailed and recently updated data on migrant's motivations this paper places a much needed emphasis upon the heterogeneity of migrant groups and the pathways to their labour market integration. We focus on...

This study examines whether trade competition from low-wage countries (LWCs) can influence immigration patterns in an advanced economy. We focus on Italy between 2003 and 2013, a period characterized by rising market pressure from China and Eastern Europe. Using census data on sectoral...

Africa's urban population is on the rise, and it is often feared that migrants are a direct source of urban underdevelopment under the premise that they are poorly integrated into urban labor markets. This study examines the validity of this premise using data from six African countries. It...

Workers have the right to take up any job offer in their country of citizenship but not to rent out that right. This paper shows that relaxing this restriction using a two-sided competitive market in work permits can provide a basic income guarantee for workers in migration-destination...