Speaker(s)
Susanne Prantl (Köln University and Max Planck Bonn)
Date
2010-12-10
Location
Amsterdam

Do product and labor market institutions alter the consequences immigration has on natives’ wages? We exploit German reunification as a natural experiment and compare the wage consequences of the influx of East Germans to West Germany in situations that differ with regard to the degree of the regulation of firm entry and the strength of labor market institutions determining workers’ influence in firms’ decision making. We find that native West Germans experienced lower wage growth owing to immigration if they were employed in firms with weak labor market institutions that were active in product markets without entry regulation. Natives’ wages were shielded most if firm entry regulation interacted with labor market regulation, implying a strong influence of workers in firms’ decision making.