EU Enlargement and Labour Mobility - Consequences for Labour Markets and Redistribution by the State in Germany

This study has been prepared at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in the Department of «Social Policy and Labour Markets». It was originally completed in December 2000 and has been revised and up-dated for the English version. Research was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The study investigates the consequences of EU Eastern enlargement for labour markets and public finances in Germany. The potential for immigration to Germany from the five largest candidate countries in CEE is forecasted building on econometric estimates. Then, the opportunities and problems involved in free mobility of labour are discussed focussing, in turn, on the prospective impact of migration on the German labour market and on the fiscal effects of migration.