Abstract
The numbers of migrants from the accessions countries have clearly increased since the enlargement of the EU in 2004. Following enlargement, the net inflow of EU8 immigrants has become 2.5 times larger than the four-year period before enlargement. Poles constitute the largest immigrant group among the EU8 immigrants: since enlargement, 65% of all net immigrants and 71% of EU8 immigrants are from Poland. This chapter presents new evidence on the impact of immigrant flow from EU8 countries on the German labor market since EU enlargement. Unlike other EU countries, Germany has not immediately opened up its labor market for immigrants from the new member states. Nevertheless, our analysis documents a substantial inflow and suggests that the composition of EU8 immigrants has changed since EU enlargement. The majority of the new EU8 immigrants are male and young, and they are less educated compared to previous immigrant groups. We also find that recent EU8 immigrants are more likely to be self-employed than employed as a wage earner. Furthermore, these recent EU8 immigrants earn less conditional on being employed or self-employed. Our findings suggest that these recent EU8 immigrants are more likely to compete with immigrants from outside of Europe for low-skilled jobs instead of competing with German natives. While Germany needs high-skilled immigrants, our analysis suggests that the new EU8 immigrants only replace non-EU immigrants in lowskilled jobs. These results underline the importance of more open immigration policies targeting high-skilled immigrants. The current policy not only cannot attract the required high-skilled workforce, but also cannot avoid the attraction of low-skilled immigrants, and is a complete failure.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Blanchflower, D. G./H. Lawton (2009), The Impact of the Recent Expansion of the EU on the UK Labour Market, in: M. Kahanec/K. F. Zimmermann (eds.), EU Labor Markets After Post-Enlargement Migration. Berlin et al., 181–215.
Bonin, H./W. Eichhorst/C. Florman/M. O. Hansen/L. Skiöld/J. Stuhler/K. Tatsiramos/H. Thomasen/K. F. Zimmermann (2008), Geographic Mobility in the European Union: Optimising its Economic and Social Benefits. IZA Research Report No. 19, Bonn.
Brenke, K./K. F. Zimmermann (2007), Zuwanderung aus Mittel- und Osteuropa trotz Arbeitsmarktbarrieren deutlich gestiegen, in: DIW-Wochenbericht, 44, 645–653, Berlin.
Bundesagentur für Arbeit (2008), Arbeitsmarkt in Zahlen, Arbeitsgenehmigungen/ Zustimmungen 2007. Nürnberg.
Christen, T. G. (2004), Der Zugang zum deutschen Arbeitsmarkt nach der EU- Erweite-rung, in: Bundesarbeitsblatt Nr. 3/2004, 10.
De Giorgi, G./M. Pellizzari (2006), Welfare Migration in Europe and the Cost of a Harmonised Social Assistance. IZA Discussion Paper No. 2094, Bonn.
Fouarge, D./P. Ester (2007a), Determinants of Migration Intentions in Europe. Exodus or Bounded Mobility? Institute for Labour Studies, Tilburg University, mimeo.
Fouarge, D./P. Ester (2007b), Factors Determining International and Regional Migration in Europe. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin.
Kahanec, M./K. F. Zimmermann (2008), Migration in an Enlarged EU: A Challenging Solution. IZA Discussion Paper No. 3913, Bonn.
Zaiceva, A./K. F. Zimmermann (2008), Scale, Diversity, and Determinants of Labour Migration in Europe, in: Oxford Review of Economic Policy 24 (3), 428–452.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brenke, K., Yuksel, M., Zimmermann, K.F. (2009). EU Enlargement under Continued Mobility Restrictions: Consequences for the German Labor Market. In: Kahanec, M., Zimmermann, K. (eds) EU Labor Markets After Post-Enlargement Migration. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02242-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02242-5_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02241-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02242-5
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)