Spatial Dimensions of the Labour Market: Megatrends in times of Covid

Abstract

The 5nd Workshop on Spatial Dimensions of the Labour Market focuses on a broad range of topics related to regional labour markets. This year, a special focus is on aspects revolving around the Covid19 crisis. COVID-19 is hitting local labour markets at a time when megatrends related to globalisation, digitalisation, technological change, are reshaping the way we live and work. The pandemic causes enormous economic and social disruptions which might affect regional labour markets in various ways in the short and long term.

The two organizing institutions, Institute for Employment Research (IAB), and Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), aim to bring together frontier research of labour economists, regional economists, sociologists, geographers and scholars from related fields. Theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented contributions are very welcome. The workshop provides a forum that allows scientists to network while fostering the exchange of research ideas and results. 

Topics of Interest

The workshop has a special focus on the spatial dimension of the consequences of the pandemic and changing economic activity. Apart from this interest, a non-exhaustive list of topics is:

• COVID-19 pandemic, it’s impact on local labour markets
• Telecommuting
• Spatial distribution of activities, disparities and inequalities
• Spatial mismatch, unemployment and spatial job search
• Mobility of labour and imperfect labour markets
• Location decisions and urban amenities
• Neighbourhoods, proximity, and urban density
• Regional dimensions of wage determination
• Evaluation of regional labour market policy and urban or regional policy
• Effects of globalization and technological change
• Methodological and data-driven innovations (e.g. use of geo-coded data)

Keynote Speakers

• Christina Gathmann, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), Director of the department Labour Market
• Diego Puga, Center for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI), Spain

Submission

Please submit a full draft paper or extended abstract (about 1200 words) in PDF format to: IAB.Spatial-LM@iab.de until May 31, 2022.

Workshop Registration

The conference fee is 100 €, which includes refreshment and lunch during the workshop, as well as the conference dinner on 5th October (excluding beverages).

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