What's New at IZA

D Fougère, F. Kramarz, J. Pouget

The 2010 Hicks-Tinbergen Medal was awarded to IZA network members Denis Fougère, Francis Kramarz and Julien Pouget for their article "Youth Unemployment and Crime in France", published in the Journal of the European Economic Association (Vol. 7, Issue 5). The medal was presented at the 25th Congress of the European Economic Association (EEA) in Glasgow on August 23, 2010, by EEA President Christopher A. Pissarides. The award-winning article previously appeared as IZA Discussion Paper No. 2009.

The EEA awards the Hicks-Tinbergen-Medal every two years for an outstanding publication in the Association's journal.
[more information]

A. Leigh

IZA Research Fellow Andrew Leigh was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in August 2010. He will be representing the seat of Fraser, the northern half of Canberra. Fraser is also home to the Australian National University, where Andrew was a Professor in the Research School of Economics until he resigned from this position to contest the federal election. He has done extensive research in labor economics, public economics, population economics, and the economics of elections. Andrew received a PhD from Harvard University in 2004, and has previously worked as a lawyer, a political adviser, and a think-tank researcher. He has published over 60 papers, including eleven IZA Discussion Papers and numerous articles in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Public Economics, the Economic Journal, Economics Letters, and the Journal of Health Economics.

A recent study published as IZA Discussion Paper No. 4741, which found significant discrimination against applicants with Turkish-sounding names, fueled the public debate on ethnic discrimination by employers in Germany. In response to these concerns, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS) has now initiated a project to test anonymous job applications. Among IZA's contributions to the project is a study that analyzes the international experience with similar projects and provides recommendations for the implementation of anonymous job application processes (see IZA Research Report No. 27).

IZA Director Zimmermann stressed the importance of attracting qualified immigrants to meet the growing skills shortage caused by demographic change. "Discrimination based on ethnic origin sends the wrong signal to a group that the labor market urgently needs. But stricter laws alone cannot change attitudes or recruitment policies. We hope that this project will help employers realize the advantages of a multi-ethnic workforce," said Zimmermann.

[read more in German]

K. F. Zimmermann

In view of the skilled labor shortage in Germany, IZA Director Klaus F. Zimmermann has urged policymakers to ease the current restrictions on labor immigration. An export nation like Germany "cannot survive in the globalized world" without opening its labor market to qualified foreign workers, said Zimmermann in an interview with the news agency "ddp". At the same time he proposed the establishment of a "Federal Ministry for Immigration and Integration" to ensure a consistent policy with regard to all economic, social and educational aspects surrounding this issue.

For more information (in German) see:
- full text of the ddp interview (July 25, 2010)
- op-ed by Klaus F. Zimmermann in Süddeutsche Zeitung (July 27, 2010)
- IZA Standpunkt No. 28 ("Mehr ökonomische Rationalität in der Zuwanderungspolitik")

D. Robalino

As of July 2010, David A. Robalino (World Bank) succeeds Robert Holzmann as Co-Director of the "Employment and Development" program. Robalino will head this joint research program of IZA and the World Bank together with Markus Frölich (University of Mannheim).

David Robalino is the Labor Team leader at the Social Protection anchor of the World Bank. His recent work deals with issues related to the design of unemployment benefits systems in middle income countries, the extension of social insurance programs to the informal sector, and the integration of social protection and education/training policies to improve labor market outcomes and productivity growth.

[more on the Employment and Development program]

Douglas J. Krupka †

IZA is deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Douglas James Krupka after a brief and fierce battle with cancer. Born 1974 in Cleveland, Ohio, Douglas received a BA from the University of Virginia, and a Masters and PhD from the University of Chicago. He worked as an Assistant Professor at Georgia State University before coming to IZA as a Senior Research Associate and Deputy Program Director for the "Future of Labor" research program in 2007. He had just joined IRLEE and the Ford School at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2009.

Douglas was not only an outstanding scholar with numerous publications, presentations, and awards, but also a prolific reader, avid adventurer and traveler, and had a special love for animals and the environment. He is survived by his wife, Erin, who is also an IZA Research Fellow, and two children. Our thoughts are with his family.
[obituary]

With the publication of IZA Discussion Paper No. 5000, another landmark is reached in the 12-year history of the world's largest working paper series in labor economics. Established in 1998 with about three contributions per month, the IZA DP series now grows at an average pace of two new working papers every single day. But the series is also renowned for its high quality. It only contains work by IZA staff researchers, fellows and affiliates, all of whom are labor economists with a proven publication record. Not surprisingly, therefore, more than half of the IZA papers have already been published, or are forthcoming, in major academic journals or collective volumes.

IZA DP No. 5000 is a contribution by Stephen Machin (UCL, CEP and IZA), Olivier Marie (ROA, Maastricht University and CEP), and Sunčica Vujić (LSE). Using various data sources from Britain, the paper shows empirically that criminal activity is negatively associated with higher levels of education. To identify the causal effect of education, the authors use changes in compulsory school leaving age laws over time. The findings imply that improving education can yield significant social benefits and can be a key policy tool in the drive to reduce crime. [Download IZA DP No. 5000]