Employment Policy in Transition

Prof. Dr. Klaus F. Zimmermann ist Direktor des Instituts zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA) und zugleich Präsident des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin).

A historically unique experiment is about to enter its second decade - German unification. Early hopes for a rapid and smooth economic transformation soon turned out to be overly optimistic. Despite massive financial transfers, the political promise of a "blooming landscape" remains a vision. Actual developments have left deep scars on the labor market, and the effects will be felt for decades to come. Was this outcome to be expected, perhaps even inevitable? What went wrong, and what were the available options? Or is the current state of Eastern German labor market in fact better than is commonly assumed?

A historically unique experiment is about to enter its second decade - German unification. Early hopes for a rapid and smooth economic transformation soon turned out to be overly optimistic. Despite massive financial transfers, the political promise of a "blooming landscape" remains a vision. Actual developments have left deep scars on the labor market, and the effects will be felt for decades to come. Was this outcome to be expected, perhaps even inevitable? What went wrong, and what were the available options? Or is the current state of Eastern German labor market in fact better than is commonly assumed.

International experts draw lessons from the German transition process and compare the German experience with other transition countries

Employment Policy in Transition: The Lessons of German Integration for the Labor Market: R. Riphahn, D. Snower, K. Zimmermann: Introduction.- H. Bonin, K. Zimmermann: The Post-Unification German Labor Market.- Analysis of the German Labor Market Problem: M. Burda, M. Funke: Wages and Structural Adjustment in the New German States.- K.-H. Paqué: East/West-Wage Rigidity in United Germany.- A. Börsch-Supan, P. Schmidt: Early Retirement in East and West Germany.- T. Hinz, R. Ziegler: Employment Effects of Newly Founded Businesses in East Germany.- J. Schwarze, G. Wagner: Earning Dynamics in the East German Transition Process.- Policy Options: D. Begg, R. Portes: Eastern Germany Since Unification: Wage Subsidies Remain a Better Way.- H. Klodt: Economic Efficiency and Social Acceptance of Wage Subsidies.- D. Snower: Revenue-Sharing Subsidies as Employment Policy: Reducing the Cost of Stimulating East German Employment.- G. Illing: Investment Wages and Capital Market Imperfections.- M. Eichler, M. Lechner: Public Sector Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training in East Germany: Institutional Arrangements, Participants, and Results of Empirical Evaluations.- H. Lehmann: Active Labor Market Policies in Central Europe: First Lessons.