The Employment Effects of Immigration: Evidence from the Mass Arrival of German Expellees in Postwar Germany

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic History
Year: 2014
Volume: 74
Issue: 1
Pages: 69-108

Authors (2)

Braun, Sebastian (Universität Bayreuth) Omar Mahmoud, Toman (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This article studies the employment effects of one of the largest forced population movements in history, the influx of millions of German expellees to West Germany after World War II. This episode of forced mass migration provides a unique setting to study the causal effects of immigration. Expellees were not selected on the basis of skills or labor market prospects and, as ethnic Germans, were close substitutes to native West Germans. Expellee inflows substantially reduced native employment. The displacement effect was, however, highly nonlinear and limited to labor market segments with very high inflow rates.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:cup:jechis:v:74:y:2014:i:01:p:69-108_00
Journal Field
Economic History
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24