PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Illing, Hannah
TI  - Crossing Borders
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.0223-12764R3
DP  - 2025 Jun 05
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0223-12764R3
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2025/06/02/jhr.0223-12764R3.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2025/06/02/jhr.0223-12764R3.full
AB  - This paper investigates an EU policy reform that granted Czech citizens full access to the German labor market. Exploiting the fact that the reform specifically impacted the Czech and German border regions, I use a matched difference-in-differences design to estimate local labor markets effects in both countries. I show that the Czech border region experienced a decline in unemployment rates and an increase in vacancies, while local labor markets in Germany remained unaffected. Overall, my findings suggest that the Czech border region faced labor shortages, while local labor markets in Germany were able to fully absorb the migrant inflow.