In focus : the potential of qualified immigration into the eastern part of Germany

Abstract

"In respect to the demand for labour in the eastern part of Germany, a bottleneck in the area of middle- and high-level qualifications is forecast on the basis of demographic prognoses; it will not be possible to eradicate this only via labour supplies that have not yet been fully tapped; on the contrary qualified immigration will be necessary. This article describes the various possible ways in which qualified immigration to the eastern part of Germany takes place: international immigration from outside and inside the European Union as well as national internal migration from the western part of Germany. A central area investigates the effects of the complete free movement of labour for persons of Polish nationality as of 1 May 2011. The results show that emigrants gain advantages from the interaction between economic performance and existing networks in the target region. That is why the western German economic centres will probably profit from increasing flows of migrants from Poland. The eastern states of Germany will frequently only act as transition regions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Kubis, A. (2011): Im Fokus: Potenziale qualifizierter Zuwanderung nach Ostdeutschland. In: Wirtschaft im Wandel, Vol. 17, No. 4, p. 148-152.