I analyze the skill structure of commuters in 15 EU countries. Theory suggests that higher returns to education in receiving regions and shorter commuting distances favor positive selection of commuters. Empirically all types of commuters in most EU countries are more skilled than non-commuters....

We use individual level data covering 30 mostly post-communist and developing countries which account for over a fifth of the worldwide immigrant stock to assess the impact of risk aversion on the willingness to migrate. Consistent with theories of individual level migration decisions, risk...

We use synthetic control group methods to analyse the causal impact of CSR certification on the economic performance of a small set of Italian manufacturing firms that underwent SA8000 certification in 2009 or 2010. We find no evidence of a positive or negative impact of SA8000 certification on...

Homeownership is believed to cause higher unemployment. This is because homeowners face higher mobility costs that limit their job search to local labour markets. Empirical tests of this prediction have yielded mixed results so far, possibly due to the endogeneity of homeownership. This paper...

We analyse the impact of social capital on the willingness to migrate in 28 post-communist and five western European comparator countries using the Life in Transition Survey. We find substantially lower levels of professional social capital among the older cohorts in post-communist than in the...

We analyze the impacts of three major unexpected border regime changes that occurred during the course of 20th century on population growth along the Austrian-Czech border. Using historical municipal-level census data reaching back to 1880, we find no effects of the dissolution of the...

This paper analyses the expected changes in external tariffs and imports in Poland after accession to the European Union. We find that around 14% of all manufacturing commodity groups in the Harmonised System will experience tariff reductions of over 10 percentage points, while for agricultural...

We analyse cross-border co-operation of Austrian firms with CEEC partners. Firm size, previous experience with co-operation and depth of integration with the most important partner are more important determinants of co-operation than distance to the closest potential partner. Firms with...

This paper analyses the co-operation activities of small Austrian firms with the CEEC and compares them to those of larger firms. Small firms are less likely to engage in cross-border co-operation than larger firms, more likely to co-operate in ownership based forms of co-operation but less...