The Economic Integration of Forced Migrants - Evidence for Post-War Germany

30 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2011

See all articles by Sebastian Braun

Sebastian Braun

Kiel Institute for the World Economy - IFW

Thomas K. Bauer

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen); University of Bochum - Faculty of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Michael Kvasnicka

RWI Essen (Berlin Office)

Date Written: July 1, 2011

Abstract

The flight and expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe during and after World War II constitutes one of the largest forced population movements in history. We analyze the economic integration of these forced migrants and their off spring in West Germany. The empirical results suggest that even a quarter of a century after displacement, first generation migrants and native West Germans that were comparable before the war perform strikingly different. Migrants have substantially lower incomes and are less likely to own a house or to be self-employed. Displaced agricultural workers, however, have significantly higher incomes. This income gain can be explained by faster transitions out of low-paid agricultural work. Differences in the labor market performance of second generation migrants resemble those of the first generation. We also find that displacement considerably weakens the intergenerational transmission of human capital between fathers and children, especially at the lower tail of the skill distribution.

Keywords: forced migration, economic integration, World War II, West Germany

JEL Classification: J61, O15, R23

Suggested Citation

Braun, Sebastian Till and Bauer, Thomas K. and Kvasnicka, Michael, The Economic Integration of Forced Migrants - Evidence for Post-War Germany (July 1, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1884117 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1884117

Sebastian Till Braun (Contact Author)

Kiel Institute for the World Economy - IFW ( email )

United States

Thomas K. Bauer

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen) ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
Essen, 45128
Germany
+49 201 8149 264 (Phone)
+49 201 8149 284 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.rwi-essen.de

University of Bochum - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Universitätsstraße 150
Gebäude GC, Ebene 3, Raum 58
D-44780 Bochum
Germany
+02 34 32 28341 (Phone)
+02 34 32 14273 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/empwifo/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany
+49 228 38 94 529 (Phone)
+49 228 38 94 510 (Fax)

Michael Kvasnicka

RWI Essen (Berlin Office) ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
Berlin, 45128
Germany

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