Friedrich Poeschel: Relocation assistance and regional labour mobility
FBK-IRVAPP
vicolo dalla Piccola 12
Trento
FBK-IRVAPP is pleased to invite you to the following seminar: Relocation assistance and regional labour mobility .
With the participation of Friedrich Poeschel (EURAC)
The seminar is held in English.
Abstract
With one of the highest urban-rural divides in the OECD, active labour market policy in Latvia
faces particular challenges in some regions outside the metropolitan area of Riga. In order to promote
the regional mobility of unemployed persons within Latvia, the public employment service operates a
programme that offers financial support with taking up job offers located 20 km or more from the
current residence. This paper evaluates the programme in the years 2012-2017 using linked
administrative data, including direct observations on moves within Latvia. Effects are identified using a
difference-in-difference approach that exploits eligibility rules and their changes over time. Although
only modest amounts of financial support are involved, significant positive effects are found on the
mobility to take up jobs. With regards to especially disadvantaged groups, positive effects also
materialise for recipients of social assistance but not for persons with disabilities.
Guest Speakers
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Friedrich Poeschel - Guest SpeakerShort bio: Friedrich Poeschel has recently joined the European Academy Bozen/Bolzano to work on applied topics in migration. Until March, he worked as Senior Analyst at the European Union Agency for Asylum in Malta. From 2013 to 2019, Friedrich was an Economist at the OECD in Paris, specialising in migration, integration and diasporas. He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Oxford, as well as a Bachelor degree with First Class Honours from the London School of Economics and an M.Phil. in economics from the University of Oxford.