Essays in migration and regional trends in Germany

Abstract

Germany is characterised by a remarkable history of labour migration, particularly since World War II. The country experiences regional economic disparities, manifested in varying income inequality levels, employment prospects, economic development and infrastructure. These regional differences and the existence of structural barriers shape the extent to which migrants integrate into society. This thesis explores the socio-economic disparities between migrants and natives at the regional level. Over the course of three essays, this thesis reveals a catch-up in socio-economic standing between migrants and natives, while also emphasising persistent regional disparities. Essay 1 explores the migration and inequality patterns in Germany from 1985 to 2015. Despite Germany’s historical dependence on migrant workers, contemporary negative attitudes and bigotry often relegate migrants to lower social status. Examining representative German household (SOEP) and Platform X (Twitter) data, this chapter examines the inequality trends over a 30-year period (1985-2015). It evaluates the socio-economic achievements of migrants in education, occupation and income compared to natives. The results challenge existing public perceptions, as there is no empirical evidence to support the idea that the proportion of immigrants correlates with an increase in economic inequality. Essay 2 examines household vulnerability, presenting a multivariate method that measures vulnerability as an underachievement of multidimensional well-being and explores its determinants. Using SOEP data spanning from 1985 to 2019, individual achievements in employment, health, and housing are examined and aggregated at the household level. The results show that non-native households exhibit the highest vulnerability, mixed households display the least vulnerability, and native households fall in between. Chapter 3 employs a task-based approach on German household data spanning 1985 to 2020. The study analyses discrepancies in occupational trajectories from a task-based perspective between the native and migrant populations at the aggregate and regional levels. The analysis draws upon convergence-type regressions to examine the aggregate and random coefficient models to explore the regional federal state levels, focusing on routine manual, routine cognitive, non-routine manual, and non-routine analytic tasks. The evidence suggests an aggregate-level convergence among native, foreign-born, and second-generation migrants, coupled with a narrowing gap between foreign-born and second-generation migrants. On the regional level, the findings indicate heterogeneity with a more subtle convergence observed in the East when compared with the West. The findings encourage ongoing efforts to further narrow the economic migrant-native divide. Addressing regional disparities requires collaborations between municipalities, non-profit and private sectors to exchange best practices and implement programmes that incentivize endeavours in disadvantaged regions (e.g., MacKinnon et al. (2024)). Additionally, inclusive workforce policies accelerating skill and degree recognition are vital to foster migrants’ contributions to the German economy.