Abstract

Occupational and regional mobility are important components in the individual productivity and wage development of employees. On the one hand, occupational mobility can serve to improve the working situation, as well as to maintain employment status and prevent unemployment. Technological and institutional changes that change job requirements can promote regional mobility (Acemoglu and Autor 2011; Autor 2013; Fernandez-Macias 2012). Numerous studies show positive effects of occupational and regional mobility (e.g. Bachmann et al. 2017, Reichelt and Abraham 2015). Additionally, studies show the effectiveness of mobility assistance programs (Caliendo et al 2017) and reorientation (Belot et al 2015) especially for the unemployed. Influences on and consequences of occupational and regional mobility therefore also contribute to social stratification.So far, however, it has not been scientifically examined whether and to what extent there is a willingness for occupational mobility. How strong is a possible reluctance to change careers or move to another region and what characteristics of a job or a person promote or impede occupational and regional mobility of employees? The planned project aims to answer this question with the help of a discrete choice experiment. This quasi-experimental form of the survey allows causal conclusions to be drawn about which special characteristics of situations (and respondents) determine different assessments. It also makes it possible to quantify possible aversions to occupational or regional mobility in the form of willingness to pay. The planned study can thus make a contribution to the debate on professional and regional mobility of employees and the unemployed.For this purpose, a sufficiently large number of people should be surveyed - ideally with a special focus on the groups "full-time employed" and "unemployed".