This dissertation consists of three essays in Labor
Economics. The first chapter estimates the costs for establishments of hires and
separations for a panel of German establishments. The panel records the start and the
termination of the employment of all employees in the surveyed establishments, allowing
estimation of adjustment costs under different assumptions of how frequently
establishments revise their labor demand. Under the assumption that establishments revise
their labor demand every month, estimates suggest hiring costs per employee of
approximately 5,000 Euros, and costs of separations of 1,000 Euros. Hiring costs vary
considerably between skilled (8,000 to 28,000 Euros per hire) and unskilled (4,000 to
8,000 Euros) labor. Spatial aggregation (large establishments) is associated with lower
cost estimates, and only monthly adjustment frequencies yield estimates consistent with
theoretical predictions.
The second chapter analyzes the role of regional ethnic capital - defined as the average
years of schooling of ethnic groups - in the educational attainment of young second
generation immigrants in Germany using information on naturalization and country of birth
in a nationally representative survey. I find evidence for externalities of ethnic
capital for ethnic groups. A higher average education of ethnics makes attendance of
higher-quality secondary schools more likely. Moreover, the effect is mainly mediated
through the ethnic concentration in the region. However, if higher than regional
aggregates are used for the measurement of ethnic capital, no externalities are detected.
The third chapter analyzes the impact of
regional own-ethnic concentration on the language proficiency of immigrants in Germany.
It solves the endogeneity of immigrants' location choices by exploiting the fact that
guest-workers in Germany after WWII were initially placed by firms and labor agencies. We
find a robust negative effect of ethnic concentration on immigrants' language ability.
Simulation results of a simultaneous location and learning choice model confirm the
presence of the effect and show how immigrants with high learning cost select into ethnic
enclaves. Under the counterfactual scenario of a regionally equal distribution of
immigrants the share of German-speakers increases only modestly. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/ETD-UT-2011-05-2735 |
| Date | 22 June 2011 |
| Creators | Yaman, Firat |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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