Demographic change and aging workforces, continuing rapid technological transformations, and the ever-more visible consequences of the climate crisis confront our economies and labor markets, which are already suffering from a shortage of labor. Women have made great progress in the labor market, but they still do not make full use of their labor market potential. Geopolitical conflicts and international divisions impact upon trade possibly reducing the international division of labor and inciting migration, and populism and political polarization obstruct efficient decision-making. These developments impose exceptional challenges for our economies and, in particular, our labor markets.
Keynotes
The keynotes at this conference address these issues, focusing on three core subjects: Regional inequalities, the role of women in the labor market, and immigration. Held by leading scholars in the field, the speakers will discuss the latest research and assess different policy approaches.
Monday 16 Sept. / 11:30 Keynote David Card
The role of firms in the labor market: Where are we now?
David Card (UC Berkeley, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics) takes a tour through pay differences within and between cities based on ongoing work using novel administrative data. He discusses the causes and consequences of these wage differences, which have not been considered comprehensively to date.
Monday 16 Sept. / 13:45 Keynote Christian Dustmann
The Effects of Immigration – from Economics to Politics
Christian Dustmann (University College London and RF Berlin) discusses the effects immigration has on the economy, the challenges of measurement, and how immigration impacts on the policy discourse.
Wednesday 18 Sept. / 12:15 Keynote Jessica Pan
The Evolution of Gender in the Labor Market
Jessica Pan (NUS Singapore) starts from the observation of persistent gender gaps in the labor market, which are all the more puzzling as women are now increasingly more educated than men and better prepared for the labor market than ever before. She focuses on how children affect women’s careers, and provides new evidence on how continuing disadvantage through childbirth impacts on aggregate gender inequality.
These and other issues will also be taken up by a policy panel that includes policy makers and academic policy advisors, with a focus on labor market challenges in the German-speaking countries. Moreover, various more specific labor market themes will be addressed by several more policy-oriented panels.
Panel of the Core Conference
Tuesday 17 Sept. / 14:00 (The panel will be held in German)
Die Herausforderungen für den Arbeitsmarkt / Labor Market Challenges
Dieses Panel wird die Herausforderungen für den Arbeitsmarkt in den 2020er und 2030er Jahren behandeln. Bereits jetzt leidet dieser unter Arbeitskräftemangel. Der demografische Wandel und die Alterung der Gesellschaft, der rasante technologische Wandel, vor allem durch die fortschreitende Digitalisierung und die Folgen der Klimakrise werden den Mangel an qualifizierten Arbeitskräften weiter verstärken. Diese Entwicklungen werden lebenslange Weiterbildung und berufliche Mobilität eine neue Notwendigkeit verleihen. Die Zuwanderung in den Arbeitsmarkt ist ein weiterer Weg, den Bedarf an Arbeitskräften zu decken, ist aber politisch nicht einfach umzusetzen. Das Panel wird erörtern, ob und inwieweit politische Entscheidungsträger diese Herausforderungen mit arbeitsmarktpolitischen und anderen politischen Initiativen angehen können.
Session Chair: Bernd Fitzenberger (IAB Nürnberg and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)
- Martin Kocher (Bundesminister für Arbeit und Wirtschaft der Republik Österreich)
- Andrea Nahles (Vorstandsvorsitzende der Bundesagentur für Arbeit)
- Christina Gathmann (LISER - Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research & University of Luxembourg)
- Stefan Wolter (Universität Bern)